Going Gently
by Port
Summary: Kurama and Botan learn to dislike each other from the very start. But when a mission goes horribly awry, they have a few other things to learn.
1. Chapter 1: Kurama

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho is owned by Yoshihiro Togashi and probably a corporation or something. But that's okay. This is only non-profit work.

Author's notes will appear at the end of the last chapter. More urgent replies to reader correspondence may sometimes appear at the end of a chapter, unless I respond privately. Depends what you'd prefer, of course. As for my preferences, I love hearing from readers, no matter if the reviews are quick "I liked/didn't like this chapter" or critical or grammatical advice.

~~~~~

"Going Gently"

By Port

Chapter 1

The forest was silent when the hunter killed Youko Kurama. Most noticeable were the birds, whose canopy conversations ceased as soon as the rifle shot blanketed the aural range.

That was the first thing Kurama noticed, the silence. He hovered fifteen feet above the ground, in a crouching position, and looked with only mild interest at the tableau beneath him. He noticed many other things too.

First, his body. Not pretty. It lay at the base of a tree in the Demon World forest. The upper chest area and neck had taken the bullet, and, well, now he didn't have an upper chest or neck. But that didn't seem so important now. A smile played on Kurama's lips as he looked without revulsion at his ruined body.

"It's liberating," he thought. "No more vanity or pain."

The hunter stepped from the bushes and approached the body. As soon as he did, the birds picked up where they'd left off, chattering away. Kurama—the spirit Kurama who retained the appearance if not the corporeality of his earthly body—closed his eyes and listened to the Demon World birds. Their noise had greeted him every morning of his life, but he'd never noticed before. Now the sound brought back memories, and he thought of the few people with whom he'd shared pleasant times.

Though the hunter glanced at the sky, as if to catch sight of the birds, he did not appear to notice Kurama's shade. Kurama cautiously waved one hand, but the hunter did not flick his eyes upward again. "I must be invisible," he thought. Strange to be so… cut off from humanity. He had never thought of death so much as a separation than as a joining with those who had gone before. He had half-expected Kuronue to saunter up to him, swinging his old medallion, a grin on his dark face and a warm light in his eyes.

"I wonder if I'll ever again share a quiet moment in the forest with a friend," he thought. As if in answer, a breeze gently shook some nearby tree boughs, making the branches wave. "Is that goodbye?" he wondered.

It didn't seem important. In fact, though he had always expected to go to his afterlife with many regrets, he felt strangely at peace. He felt ready to move on. With that in mind, Kurama examined himself.

He seemed to be intact. As the trees reminded him, he still had his memories, and he was sure everything else was in place: wit, personality, code of ethics (such as it was), and the memory of all his fighting skills. Whatever was to come, he would face it as Youko Kurama.

Wouldn't he? Something about that assumption felt wrong. But he couldn't explain it. Something in the movement of the tree boughs and the sight of his corpse on the ground made him think again.

Suddenly unsure, he examined his ghostly 'body.' Six-foot height? Long, white hair? Sharp front teeth? Fuzzy fox ears? Muscled exterior? Everything seemed to be in order, including the casual, white tunic he'd been wearing when the hunter attacked him. Amazing! He still had his good looks! Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

A smile tugged at him as his foxy sense of humor reasserted itself. "It can't be so bad," he thought, "since I could still pick up women. Well, if there were any around."

A cheerful, feminine voice said, "Kind of fascinating, isn't it?"

Kurama turned. His eyes widened. It was as if King Yama, the great lord of death, was listening to his thoughts and granting his wishes one after another.

The woman in front of him had the appearance of a teenager, but the eyes of an immortal. Her eyes were happy and intelligent, with a sort of sparkle that spoke of confidence—confidence in the inevitability of life and in hope that awaited everyone. But mostly her eyes were just friendly, the kind of friendliness found in someone who'd never been robbed. She smiled and bowed in greeting.

"Youko Kurama? My name is Botan. I'm your ferry guide. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Kurama bowed in return. "The pleasure is mine," he said. Breaking contact with her eyes, he took in the rest of her. She had long, blue hair, rosy skin and a slim figure covered by a modest, pink kimono. "Are you here to accompany me to the Spirit World?"

"I am indeed," she said. There was that engaging smile again. And he noticed that she sat on a wooden oar that floated in midair, level to him. Sitting on it appeared to be second nature to her, and she seemed to control it using subtle body movements. He looked at her curiously from his crouching position. 

"Tell me, what should I expect?" He was half-prepared to go with her, but he was suddenly loathe to leave the softly waving tree boughs.

Botan answered the question easily, as though with practice.

"We'll fly on my oar to the Spirit World, where I will escort you to receive judgment from Lord Koenma, son of the Great King Yama."

"The lord of death himself isn't the one to make the judgment?"

"He, er, has exalted duties to take care of himself. His son, Lord Koenma, oversees the bureaucratic workings of the Spirit World."

"Wait a moment. The fate of my eternal soul is a 'bureaucratic working?'"

"Oh, no, no, no! Never! Please forgive me for implying such a thing." She bowed and waved her hands at the same time, somehow managing not to fall off the oar. "Lord Koenma reviews each case personally and makes a fair, heavenly judgment. There is nothing to fear. Shall we go?" She gracefully lowered the empty side of her oar toward him. 

"I have more questions."

"Of course." She smiled again and repositioned the oar. "Ask away."

"What are the possible outcomes of Lord Koenma's judgment?"

Her smile attained a look of being fixed in place. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that."

Kurama simply raised one dark, finely sculpted eyebrow.

Botan's fixed smile became chagrined. "I suppose perhaps you more than others might be a little nervous…. I'll be honest with you. A poor judgment could send you to a hell, or cause you to be reincarnated to try again for a better life." Kurama felt a sudden spike of something foreign. He thought it might be fear. "But let me also assure you that you may have a chance for a good judgment. There is something redeemable in every person, King Yama says. And the Spirit World is where the concepts of mercy and forgiveness were born. A good judgment will send you to a heaven, or to the Kami."

"Wherever I wind up," Kurama said slowly, "will I… remain as I am?"

Botan blinked, and her oar gently rocked back and forth in a sort of subconscious movement. Finally, she said, "Nobody goes to the Spirit World without undergoing a profound change, Kurama, It is a process of divesting yourself of mortality. Everything about you that is impermanent will fall away, leaving the core of your soul free to pass into eternity. You've already begun this process, and it's now time to continue."

They looked into each other's eyes for long moments. Then Botan smiled again and said in a bubbly voice, "So, let's get out of here, shall we?"

Though startled by the sudden change in mood, Kurama resisted the urge to jump. He took a deep breath, even though he didn't need air anymore. "May I have a moment, then? I didn't realize until this moment."

Botan's face softened. "Of course. We have a few minutes left. Let me know when you're ready."

Kurama floated to the ground, where he spotted a log that would serve as a bench. When he sat on it, he noticed Botan flying a little out of range, trying to allow him some privacy. She was entirely too nice for what he had planned. "Botan! Wait!"

She looked back. "Yes?"

"Would you sit with me? I could… use the company." And something else, he thought.

Botan did as he asked. She sat a modest distance from him and leaned her oar on the other side of the log. "Thank you," he said.

"My pleasure," Botan said. "I know this must be difficult for you."

He nodded, and they sat in silence. Across the clearing, the hunter finished inspecting Kurama's body. He picked up the ankles and dragged it behind him out of sight, leaving a little trail in the underbrush.

Botan and Kurama gazed after him. "Did you, er, know that man?"

"I haven't a clue as to who he is. A bounty hunter who got lucky, I suppose."

"Ah." They listened to the birds. Kurama felt it was time to begin.

"Have you always been a ferry girl, Botan?"

"Me?" She laughed. "Of course. My people gave me to the Spirit World soon after I was born, so that I could bring them honor in serving Lord Enma-Daioh."

"When was that?"

"Millennia ago." She said it so simply and happily that it took a moment to register.

"You're… that old?" He looked at her with a tinge of awe. 

"Mm-hm. Why do you ask? I mean, it's unusual for a new spirit to ask me questions about myself. You usually have more on your minds."

"I always have an interest in those who have been kind to me," Kurama said.

"Oh." He saw her considering that with such innocence that he now felt sorry for what he was about to do.

"Don't you have somebody in the Spirit World who takes an interest in you, Botan?"

"You mean friends?" She laughed, a little nervously. "Of course. The other spirit guides and I are very close, and—"

"What about men?" He moved closer, but didn't quite enter her personal space.

"Some suitors, yes." There was the fixed smile again, and now a tautness about the eyes. "But I'm really much too dedicated to my work to pay them any attention. You know?"

With that, she inched away, but he moved closer still. "For thousands of years, you've never…?"

"Never wha—" But he cut her off by bracing the back of her neck with his left hand and covering her mouth with his own. She squealed and tried to move away, but he was insistent, and to his delight, he found that kissing was just as good even in a non-corporeal body. Apparently, she found the same to be true, and after a longer pause than necessary, she moved away from him.

"Kurama—"

He grinned at her, green eyes shining. She frowned, but there was a deep blush in her milky cheeks.

"Kurama, I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression."

"I'm not."

"Well, I'm very flattered and all, but—Hey, what are you doing with that?"

"This?" He grinned and stood up, hefting the object he'd grabbed with his right hand during the kiss. "I believe I'm stealing it."

He threw her oar into the air and leaped to meet it. The wooden oar accepted his weight with a little bob.

"Kurama, no! You'll never get to the Spirit World at all without me to guide you!"

He looked down at Botan, who apparently couldn't fly without the oar. "Who says I'm going to the Spirit World?" He steered in several directions, quickly getting the hang of it. Laughter spilled from him. What a delightful tool! "I'm not quite ready to 'divest myself of mortality,' Botan. Goodbye!"

"No! Kurama, come back here and be good! You don't know what you're doing! Come back here!"

Ignoring her cries, Kurama rose into the air, passing above the tree boughs and tall layers of canopy until he reached the sky above the forest. Now he saw his home for the first time from a new angle, with sunlight striking the green leaves and creating a glare that almost hurt his sharp eyes. The birds he'd always heard in the morning and at still time with close friends flew in great flocks and little, colorful groups, creating a loud, lively song. He laughed again in joy, and soon was out of sight.

~~~~~

To be continued in Chapter 2.


	2. Chapter 2: Botan

Please see disclaimer in Chapter 1. Comprehensive author's notes will appear at the end of the final chapter. In the meantime, comments and criticism are relished. Please enjoy your reading.

~~~~~

"Going Gently"  
By Port  
  
Chapter 2

Fifteen years later, Lord Koenma assigned Botan to be Yusuke Urameshi's assistant and Spirit World Liaison. "Try not to let him seduce you, okay?" Koenma said, looking amused. Botan's cheeks flared. Memories died so slowly for immortals! When would Koenma and the others let it go?

All she could do was sniff proudly. "You can be sure I will do my very best, Lord Koenma. And besides, Youko Kurama never seduced me! Not for a single, rotten little second!"

"That's right, Koenma, sir," said George. George, an easygoing and loyal ogre, was Lord Koenma's administrative assistant. "We were watching on the screen in here, and it was pretty clear Kurama only kissed Botan in order to steal her oar."

Botan blushed a deep red, but Lord Koenma was signing some papers piled on his desk and didn't see her reaction to George's statement. He had his own reply.

"If that's the case, then, Botan, don't let Urameshi get away with oar-stealing either. I'll make a no-kissing rule if I have to."

"Lord Koenma!"

"That'll be all, Botan."

Botan wished that were true. However, her prospects dimmed when Kurama, Hiei and Gouki stole the sacred regalia that were sealed in King Yama's palace, where Botan lived and worked.

The night they broke into the palace, Botan had picked up another dead soul, this time from the Human World. Unlike Kurama fifteen years earlier, and like most souls, this one had obediently sat on the end of her oar and made pleasant conversation through the journey across the River Styx. Botan, as usual, had grown rather fond of the shade and would be regretting the time they'd have to part, outside the giant doors to Lord Koenma's office. She hoped her new friend would get to go to a heaven.

"The Spirit World is so beautiful," the shade said. "It must be a wonderful place to work."

"It's the best," Botan said, smiling.

"What's that over there?"

"That's the Buddha entrance. It's a special gate just for the most holy spirits."

"Wow. What's that sound?"

"Sounds like alarms. I wonder why." They were blaring loud enough to be heard for eons, but Botan was used to the occasional fire drill and didn't think too much on it. "Everything's probably okay."

"Oh." A pause. "Who are those people?"

"Where?"

"On the outer wall, holding that oar?"

Botan was approaching the Spirit Guide entrance on one of the outer turrets, a tricky landing spot. Still, she was experienced enough that she could risk a glance at the ramparts to which the shade pointed. "Those are… hey! They don't belong there!"

Indeed they didn't. A male fire demon, a red-headed human boy and a disguised kyuukonki generally didn't belong anywhere in the vicinity. At least, not without supervision, and Botan didn't see any ogres or spirit guides near them. In fact, they appeared to be sneaking. The fire demon was holding a bag that he handled carefully, the kyuukonki appeared to be covering their rear, and in the front, the human boy held an oar.

Botan stared so long that she botched the landing. She forgot to slow as they reached the parapet, and they nosedived onto the stone floor. Fortunately, her passenger was already dead, and Botan immortal. That didn't stop them both from screaming, though. 

"I am so sorry," she said, bowing low before the shade. "I didn't mean to crash. But there's a robbery in progress, and I don't think anyone knows the thieves are over there. I need to go. Please wait inside the gate!" Her bow melded into a run and ended in a take-off upon the oar. The shade stared after her with its mouth open before following her instructions.

Botan flew so as not to be seen by the thieves. Obviously they were dangerous, or else they wouldn't have been able to make off with whatever was in the bag. Still, she didn't have to be as cautious as an ogre or a mortal, so when she saw them about to board the red-head's oar, she swooped in and tried to grab it from him.

Somehow, he sensed her coming. Botan had quick hands, though, and grabbed the polished wood even as he swung it away from her. She held on tightly, but he was very strong. The force of his swing pulled her from her seat on her own oar and brought her around in an arc to the ground. Botan twisted to catch the ground with her feet, a maneuver she wouldn't have thought herself capable of beforehand. Even the human boy looked impressed, as he had raised one eyebrow and rounded his lips into a little "O."

However, the jolt sent spasms across her ankles, and before she could right herself somebody wrested the boy's oar from her and took her arms in a crushing grip behind her back. It was the kyuukonki, the only one with the bulk to hold her so easily, though she didn't doubt they all had the strength. Botan tried to hide her fear.

"Look at this. The bravest one in this whole stinking castle is a _girl_," the kyuukonki said. She realized he was disguised in a human form. She had instinctively identified the species of the intruders by their auras. Quickly she looked at the others to take in their features for future identification. The fire demon was smirking. He had spiky black hair, tan skin, large, red eyes, and stood about four feet tall. He held the bag, which looked heavy. 

The human boy held her gaze when she looked at him. He was slender, wearing a magenta school uniform perfectly cut to emphasize his height and his own graceful lines. He had green eyes and a stance that made him appear both relaxed and ready to move. Botan noticed a grimness to the set of his mouth and a seriousness in his eyes. He held the oar like a battle staff. Where had he gotten that thing anyway?

"Also the cleverest," the boy said as the kyuukonki's insipid laughter faded. "She knew that if she could steal this oar, we would have no escape from the Spirit World." He looked at her again and grinned with a touch of merriment. "Kind of ironic, isn't it?"

~~~~~

Two hours later, long after the alarms had been cut off, two ogre guards came across Botan on the same outer wall. She was bound and gagged, but otherwise unhurt. She had a feeling the worst part of the night had yet to come, for she was escorted directly to Lord Koenma's office, where she would have to report on what she learned from the thieves. 

On the one hand, she was able to positively identify all three and tell Lord Koenma how security had been breached.

On the other hand, she had to tell him that one of the thieves was Youko Kurama, who had stolen her oar fifteen years earlier to escape the afterlife. She also had to tell Lord Koenma that he'd used that same oar to bring his partners in crime to the Spirit World. 

And, finally, she had to report that tonight, Kurama had also made sure to steal her _other_ oar.

~~~~~

To be continued in Chapter 3.


	3. Chapter 3: Botan and Kurama

Please see disclaimer in Chapter 1. Comprehensive author's notes will appear at the end of the final chapter. In the meantime, comments and criticism are relished. Please enjoy your reading.

~~~~~

"Going Gently"  
By Port  
  
Chapter 3

White marble walls glistened in the Spirit World sunlight, and a holy echo called just beneath the range of hearing within the palace. It was morning in the Land of Life After Death.

Botan's soft footfalls made quiet sounds as she walked down a hall lined with glowing, golden windows. Soon, she heard louder, quicker footsteps, whose clicks sounded like they were made with human dress shoes. In a moment, she turned a corner and saw, with disappointment, someone who'd been in the palace a lot lately.

"Good morning, Botan."

"Good morning, Kurama."

"It is good to see you again," he said. "I hope… everything has been well with you."

"Oh, it has, thank you. Well, goodbye."

He nodded, passed her and walked on. Botan had never been colder to anyone in her life. It made her feel crummy.

Botan didn't consider herself petty. She had a generous sense of humor, and a mild personality. Few things had ever really gotten on her nerves, and certainly embarrassment meant little to her. But Kurama…! He made her as angry as she'd been in centuries. 

_First he defies the laws of nature_—never mind he did so by outsmarting her. _Then he steals the sacred regalia and puts two of the pieces into the hands of demons who want to use them for evil. No big deal, right? Apparently not. After all that, he and Hiei get rewarded with Spirit World jobs! After all the trouble they caused!_

Holy people were applying for palace jobs by the hundreds, and Kurama got a top position. It was beyond her. Still, everyone had the right to redeem himself. So she might have been able to forgive him and become his friend, if not for one thing.

It had taken place the night of the robbery, before they'd left her on the outer wall.

"Are you comfortable?" he'd asked. "It may be a while."

Botan glared up from the stone floor, where she sat with her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied together. Nearer to the edge of the wall, Hiei and Gouki waited impatiently. Hiei kept eyeing Gouki suspiciously while Gouki kept eyeing the bag of loot. Kurama—she had recognized him as soon as he'd called her clever earlier—stood in front of her with her first oar in his hand, still held like a weapon, but at ease. His red hair waved softly in the wind, and his face somehow looked both solemn and amused.

"Do you really expect to get away with this? The Spirit World will track you down. You must know that."

His eyes shifted, bored. "I get the same speech every time I rob somebody and leave them tied up. I'm disappointed. Somehow I thought you might be different."

"Fine then. I'm not comfortable at all. You'd better loosen the ropes or I might faint."

He chuckled. "That's more like it."

Hiei's voice came from the edge of the wall. "Kurama, stop flirting and get over here."

Kurama nodded, more businesslike at once. "Goodbye, Botan." He bowed, then leaned over to her side and picked up her newer oar. Hefting them both in his hands, he began to walk away.

She hated to do it, but she had to. "Kurama!"

He stopped and looked at her. "Yes?"

"I…. Is it necessary to take my new oar? You already have my first one, and… I'm certain I'll get in trouble for losing another one so quickly." She found with surprise that she was fighting back tears. This night had not gone at all as planned, and she needed something to go right. Still, she asked proudly, without tears or a quavering voice.

And Kurama grinned. "I'll take good care of it. Goodbye, Botan."

Moments later, they were all gone.

His grin stayed with her. All through the next months, it acted as a wall between her and Kurama. Many times she wanted to forgive him. When he saved his mother's life using the sacred mirror, she'd been so impressed… until she remembered his grin. Later, when he, Hiei, Kuwabara and Yusuke returned from the city of the Saint Beasts, she'd been in awe of the four of them. There they were, bloody, bruised and victorious.

They'd saved Keiko's life (Botan's own too, if she thought of it, since she had a human body at the time…). Kuwabara had been carrying an unconscious Yusuke when they arrived back in the Human World. Hiei had been stoic, yet plainly he was hurting. And Kurama's entire right sleeve had been covered in blood. Relieved that she'd managed to ditch Keiko, Botan set about healing the boys' wounds, using her own spirit energy. Yusuke regained consciousness, flashed her a cocky smile, asked about Keiko, and fell asleep again as soon as the word "fine" left her mouth. Kuwabara carried him over his shoulder back home, leaving Botan with Hiei and Kurama. Then Hiei flitted off, refusing her offer of help, leaving her alone with Kurama.

He really was impressive, with his torn and stained school uniform, disheveled hair, black and blue skin, and of course the arm.

"May I have a look at that, or would you rather just go home?" she asked, not unkindly. Hiei's quiet disdain set her on edge. She hoped Kurama would allow her to help. He had just helped save the world, after all.

"I would be grateful if you looked at it," he said, inclining his head. "I'd rather my mother not see me like this."

Botan laughed as she helped him remove his jacket and shirt. "You don't plan to tell her?"

"I doubt she'd believe me," he said. "Normal humans have a limited perception of reality. What you and I take for granted they take for fairy stories."

"I keep forgetting that," she said. "But I just had to explain to Keiko that what we experienced has a scientific explanation. It took some time for her to believe me."

"Perhaps she's more intelligent than average."

"Hm. All done."

Kurama experimentally flexed his arm. "This is as good as new. You are a talented healer, Botan."

Something in his tone betrayed the lie. It was too generous. Botan knew she needed practice healing human bodies. It wasn't in her normal job description, after all. And she caught him suppressing a wince. For some reason she was disappointed. She would have appreciated his honesty more.

"I need to get back to the Spirit World. If that's all?"

"That's all," he said, smiling. "Thank you, Botan."

When she left, she couldn't get his farewell grin out of her mind. Something about the thought of Kurama being happy made her blood itch.

So when Botan occasionally saw Kurama and Hiei in the halls of King Yama's palace, or visited Yusuke and found Kurama visiting too, she treated him as a minor acquaintance, coldly even. She hardly said more than politeness required she say to him. He responded with disinterested reserve, but he looked puzzled the first few times. Sometimes he would even try to draw her into conversation, but she wouldn't accept the bait. Finally, he accepted her iciness, and all their conversations became empty exchanges of pleasantries much like the one that had just taken place in the palace hall.

Botan walked on as Kurama's quiet footsteps faded away. She felt lousy and wished there were a solution, but she could see none. Then Kurama's footsteps paused before quickly approaching her again. She turned to see him running toward her.

"Botan," he said, stopping before her.

"Yes, Kurama?" What could he want now? Maybe her third oar? She squeezed it with her hand, to make sure it was safe.

"Botan, I think we've had a bad start."

"Oh?" 

"I've offended you twice now, and I would like to make up for it. If we are to be teammates, we should learn to get along. Don't you agree?"

Alarm bells were going off in her mind. This sounded suspiciously similar to his words fifteen years ago, on that log in the Demon World. She casually clasped her hands behind her back, hiding her oar there too.

"What do you have in mind, Kurama?"

The skin around his eyes relaxed, brightening his whole face. "Let me take you out to dinner in the Human World."

~~~~~

To be continued in Chapter 4.


	4. Chapter 4: Getting Even

Please see disclaimer in Chapter 1. Comprehensive author's notes will appear at the end of the final chapter. In the meantime, comments and criticism are relished. Please enjoy your reading.

~~~~~

"Going Gently"  
By Port  
  
Chapter 4

Men enjoyed dates.

Botan was no fool. She'd silently visited hundreds of thousands of humans and demons over the years, invisibly coming among them to collect the dead. The accumulated moments of observation amounted to centuries, and she felt familiar with most of their customs and values. Recently, she'd begun watching television with Yusuke, which made her even more of an expert. On all the shows, men considered it a great honor for a girl to accept their invitations to dinner.

Kurama stood, waiting for her answer.

"You would… enjoy taking me out to dinner?"

"I would consider it an honor."

It was as she thought. "No, thank you."

Kurama's fair face cocked to the left as she walked past him. 

"But Botan—" He pivoted and caught up, one stride keeping up with two of her own.

"Yes, Kurama?"

He opened his mouth, but a few beats passed before he asked, "Why not?"

Somehow, against the cumulative force of her entire store of reflexes, some latent sense made her remain cool. She looked into his wide eyes. They stared back at her. Was this really the sly Youko Kurama who had stolen a thousand jewels from five hundred demons? The stolid and deadly fighter of Demon World fame who had defeated a Saint Beast single-handedly? The cruel trickster who had stolen two oars from a messenger of King Yama?

It was true. This confused, stung human boy she'd rejected was _the_ Youko Kurama. Of a sudden, she felt guilty. This was too pathetic! The change was—wait! There was no change, for he had never expected her to refuse!

_What an ego he has_, she thought. _He doesn't understand why I said no._

"Why not what?" she asked.

"Why not—Botan. You are being coy now."

She blinked a few times, extra-aware of her long lashes. "Am I?"

He sighed and stopped walking. She stopped too and waited while he recollected himself. It was a visible process. She watched, in fascinated disgust. _Look how his back straightens, and there's that calmness on his face again. No more crease between the eyebrows or arrogant pout. Hands too. Must unclench them. _Strangely, she found her own hands turning into claws. _What is wrong with me?_

"Botan," he finally said, "I see you are still angry at me, even though it happened months ago. But I would like to be your friend, since we are on the same team now. Will you allow me this gesture to make things right between us?"

She wanted to, actually. The dinner meant nothing, but she needed to rid herself of this grudge. Being mean was driving her crazy, and besides, it might have bad consequences on a battlefield. If she had a chance to fix things, then she should take it.

As she began to nod, Kurama's mouth curved into a smile, reminding her again of how much she loathed his happiness. Really, she thought, unclenching her own hands, she needed to become a nice person again, but how was that possible when all these situations came out in Kurama's favor?

She said, "I hope that after dinner, we can consider ourselves even, Kurama."

~~~~~

Kurama had not thought often of the time he kissed Botan under the forest canopy. But as he dressed for the date, he kept drifting back to the experience of pressing his face to her own. It had not been unpleasant, but he had been more excited about putting his brilliant plan into action, and when his hand fastened about the wooden oar, he had felt a surge of satisfaction that left him silent and happy while Botan, silent and happy herself, though less willing to admit it, recovered from his maneuver.

He always remembered the incident with an inner cackle. Later tonight, however, he would rethink that attitude.

Botan had shown up in a sky blue and white jumper with a knee-high skirt and solid, grey stockings. She'd pinned her hair in a simple French twist, and little strands fell from it to create a wispy blue halo about her face. Kurama wasn't sure, but he thought she was wearing lipstick and some other makeup. Something about her scent was alcoholic and flowery, hinting at minimal dabs of perfume, probably on her neck.

In short, upon seeing her, he felt an instant fondness for Botan. She wasn't beautiful by modern human standards. There was nothing mature or sexy in her looks. But she was Botan, with her amazing smile and immortal eyes. And she'd dressed up for him.

His fondness swelled as they walked together to the restaurant. They chatted the entire way, and not once did she appear uncomfortable or angry at him. The iciness was gone. A little wary at first, he'd mentioned the change. 

"I'm glad to see you looking happy this evening, Botan."

She blushed—blushed! "I'm a little surprised myself, Kurama. I suppose I've been eager for this chance to fix things."

In short, he got taken in. But he wouldn't realize it for a while yet. Her giggle made him smile, and her pert attitude put him at ease. By the time they were seated, Kurama thought back to his first meeting with Botan and remembered it for the kiss itself. How lucky he was to have kissed a girl like Botan.

They ordered quickly and fell into a companionable silence after the waiter left. Botan looked up as Kurama cleared his throat.

"Botan, now that I have this chance, I'd like to formally apologize for stealing your oar a few months ago. There was no sense in doing so. I did it because I could, not because I needed to."

For the first time that night, her face looked stern.

"Will you accept my apology?"

"Kurama…. If you apologize for both times, I'll forgive you."

She'd set her lower lip; it was so cute.

"I'm afraid I can't apologize for the first time. The only reason I'm here now is because I took your oar and escaped to the Human World. To apologize for saving my own life would be… ridiculous."

As expected, she darkened, like a reduced flame, albeit one about to flare. Still, her words were remarkably calm.

"Kurama, what you did was ridiculous. You cheated and delayed your afterlife. You must know that one day you'll see me and be unable to escape." He laughed, but she didn't. "Meanwhile, you put your soul into terrible danger."

"What kind of danger?"

"Didn't you feel it?"

He narrowed his eyes. Was she referring to…. "There was a sort of weakness after a few days. Then it began to feel like a wound. But it stopped after I entered my human body. Is that what you mean?"

She nodded. "When a soul does not go to the Spirit World or inhabit a body, and when it resists other paths and does what it pleases, it risks becoming anchored to a time or place and existing as a… sort of ghoul. You forget who you are and know only your strongest emotions, which take control of you. Over centuries, you simply fade away until there's nothing left. I'm glad you avoided that, but I'm angry that you put yourself into the position in the first place."

In his thoughtful expression, surprise must have been apparent. She said, "I'm not a ghoul, Kurama. I'm glad for your good fortune, and I don't want you to die."

"That much is reassuring," he said, finally drawing a smile from her. "Since that's the case, I wish you wouldn't be angry at me, Botan. It is… distracting."

"Oh?" Then that low flame exploded. No longer didactic, she flared passionately. "I have to deal with a coworker who's humiliated me—twice!—in front of my prince, and you're _ distracted_?"

Kurama looked from side to side to see if she'd disturbed anyone, but it seemed Botan only gave the impression of yelling. While her delivery was shrill, it was remarkably quiet. And it was completely honest. Kurama, who was used to a certain level of subterfuge even from his friends, admitted to himself that he didn't know how to proceed. That probably explained what he said next.

"Did my actions humiliate you in front of Koenma?"

She stared at him. While Kurama tried to read the thoughts behind her narrowed, glistering eyes, he began to realize he'd lost control of the conversation.

"Imagine," she said at last, "calling the son of the Lord of Death to ask for a ride back from the Demon World. Imagine reporting that the soul you were sent to collect had escaped on your oar that he stole from you. Imagine that during the investigation Koenma uses his magic viewing screen to watch a recording of the entire thing! Now imagine having dinner with that thief fifteen years later and being asked by him, 'Did my actions humiliate you?'"

They stared at each other, one holding back tears of frustration and the other baffled.

"I'll just come back with your drinks another time," said the waiter, who had been politely standing by. He hurried away.

Botan began to get up.

"Botan, don't leave yet," Kurama said.

She sniffed. "I'm just going to the ladies' room. I want to check my lipstick." She swiped at her eyes and hurried off. Kurama watched her leave.

"Apparently, I humiliated her," he murmured. He turned back around in his seat. Funny. Looking back, he'd always thought he'd done everything exactly right that day. The ruse, the kiss, the theft. It had all been perfect. Perfect! Except for one thing. He had liked Botan before he kissed her and stole the oar, yet he'd done it anyway. Fifteen years ago, hurting her had made no difference. But now, now he owed her. Not just because they had to work together. No, he owed her because he still liked her. And heaven help him, he was beginning to feel bad for what he'd done. 

The mental image didn't help. He imagined the scene in Koenma's office. Botan standing in misery, yet proud, beside Koenma's oversized desk. Koenma pressing the play button on his remote control, maybe with some help from his assistant, George the ogre. The screen displaying the foliage of Kurama's old home, and beneath it, Kurama and Botan making small talk on that log. Then the kiss, and in the office, Botan's face going red at the same moment Koenma's does, only for a different reason. A few seconds later, if Koenma hasn't started yelling or choking by now, the audience watches Kurama zip away into the sky, laughing and clever, while the Botan on the screen stands shocked in the clearing, wondering with dread how she's supposed to report something like this to Koenma.

With that in mind, he decided he probably should have gone about escaping death without dishonoring Botan.

When Botan came back, her eyes were dry, and she even smiled shyly at him. He stood for her while she sat down, but didn't take his seat yet. 

"Botan," he said, "I think I understand now what it must have been like for you." He bowed low. Behind him, finding the aisle suddenly blocked, the waiter stumbled and spilled their drinks all over his shirt. Ignored by the couple, he turned back to the kitchens. Kurama rose and said, "I apologize for embarrassing you."

She looked at him with, of all things, a pink blush. "Kurama, please sit down. After…. After tonight, I'll forgive you. We'll be even. Is that all right?"

"That's what I want, Botan," he said. "Thank you." He inclined his head to her and took his seat. They sat in silence for a few moments, not quite companionable anymore, until Kurama asked a question. "Would you tell me what was the result of the investigation?"

Botan looked up from the silverware she'd been admiring. "I'm sorry?"

"You weren't punished for the incident, were you? If so, I'll go to Koenma and demand a punishment as well."

"Kurama, no! I said after tonight we're even. You mustn't go to Koenma. He's just starting to let off on teasing me."

"Teasing you?"

"It's Koenma we're talking about here."

Kurama frowned. "I won't be able to rest until I know what happened to you because of me."

"Nothing very bad, actually. I got reassigned from Demon World duty to the Human World. And because of that I met Yusuke and Kuwabara. So it turned out all right after all. I've just been mad about the incidents themselves." She smiled broadly, looking for the first time since their conversation like the sparkly girl he'd known before. "And that's wearing off as we speak. I'm so glad we're doing this, Kurama."

"Then I am too," he said, though the old, wily part of him missed the bliss of ignorance. "What about after the Spirit World incident?"

Botan blushed again. "Well, Koenma did laugh at me a lot for losing my oar again. Oh, please don't look so mad about that, Kurama. I'm just telling you so you'll understand, okay? That worked out well too, because Koenma was also impressed that I tried to stop you. He rewarded me with a physical body to help with Spirit Detective missions."

"Excuse me," Kurama said to the waiter, who was staring at them, their drinks forgotten in one hand. "I believe those are our drinks."

"Ah, yes, yes. Here." He wandered away, casting distracted glances back at them. 

"I'm glad something good came from my mistake, Botan." She smiled across at him. "Tell me, how does a ferry girl get a physical body?"

"Metaphysics," she answered. "Something to do with transmutation of spiritual energies. My spirit form becomes corporeal. I'm not even sure I totally understand it myself. But it works, so that's enough for me. Whenever I need to, I just revert back and forth between forms and dimensions. And it's so useful. I wouldn't have been able to help Keiko at all when the demon insects came."

"And we wouldn't have had this dinner," said Kurama, turning on the charm. "Do you like being a human?"

"It's okay. Nothing like being immortal, though." She sipped her drink. "What about you?"

"I miss my old strength," he admitted. "But humanity is keeping my wits just as sharp."

For some reason, she smiled into her glass.

~~~~~

The evening passed amicably from that point. They both told stories from their long lives of experience, not touching the events that had brought them together. Botan giggled a lot, and Kurama found himself smiling often. They discovered a mutual love for poetry. Botan was perhaps the only person Kurama knew who loved death poems without being morbidly depraved. He found the theme fascinated her.

"I see it from one perspective," she told him. "But humans and demons see it from the opposite." She'd unintentionally brought the topic closer to their original dispute, so she covered by quoting an English sonnet composed by John Donne. "'One short sleep past, we wake eternally /And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.' Amazing, isn't it?"

"What about it?"

"How they can be correct and wrong at the same time."

He wasn't following, but he wasn't about to say so. After a moment, she continued. "There is nobody in the Spirit World called Death. I joked with Yusuke when I met him. Called myself the Grim Reaper. But I'm just a ferry girl. Humans, however, believe in death."

"I have a book you might enjoy," Kurama said, uncomfortable with her implications. "It's a compilation of poems written by Buddhist monks in their dying moments. Would you be interested?"

Her grin answered him, and they made arrangements for her to stop by his house the following afternoon. By the time the check arrived, Kurama discovered they'd taken an hour over their coffee and dessert. It had felt like minutes.

"I'll be right back," he said, taking the check and walking to the cashier. He felt her eyes on him while he walked away from her, but he couldn't tell what that meant. At any rate, he soon forgot all about Botan's eyes, for when he reached into his pocket, he could not find his wallet.

No, no, that was impossible. He had put it in his pocket before leaving the house. He distinctly remembered doing so. Didn't he?

Quickly, he reached into both pockets and found nothing but his house keys. "This isn't possible," he said.

"Can I help you?" the cashier asked, noticing the crumpled bill in his hand.

He nodded. "I'll be back in just one moment."

He strode to the table. _ It can't have dropped_, he thought. _No possible way._ Still, he scanned his chair and the floor around it with quick fox eyes. All he found was Botan looking at him in puzzlement from beneath the halo of her hair.

"Is anything wrong, Kurama?"

His breath hitched, but he covered by shaking his head and smiling. "Of course not." _Think fast_, he thought.

"Good. Are we ready to go?" She started to get up.

"No, actually. Please sit back down. I still need to pay the check. Just a few minutes."

"All right."

He went back to the cashier and checked all of his pockets twice on the way. No wallet. The cashier smiled up at him. "Does the restaurant have a phone?" he asked.

~~~~~

It wouldn't do for his mother to have to look for him in the crowded restaurant after coming all the way down in the middle of the night. So Kurama was obliged to wait near the entrance. He was standing next to a middle-aged couple waiting to be seated when Botan walked over to him. "Kurama? Is everything okay? Why are you standing over here?"

He felt warmth creep over his cheeks. How he did miss his old strength. "Botan," he said, feeling as embarrassed as he ever had, but trying to appear dignified. "I'm afraid I… left my wallet at home."

"You did?"

"I had to call my mother to ask her to bring it to the restaurant. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but I was hoping she'd be here before you noticed." He clenched his fists, very angry with himself, but not showing that either.

Botan looked at him seriously, as if examining his face or memorizing it. Kurama burned under her gaze.

"I am sorry, Botan. It may be a little while before she gets here." Actually, he suspected he'd woken his mother up. "I was planning to escort you home, but you may want to leave early. I'll understand." _Please_, he thought, _go home before this night gets any worse. Mother didn't sound too pleased with me_.

"Oh, no, Kurama. I'll stick it out with you. I'd feel bad leaving you all alone over here. Just let me get my jacket from the table so they can use the space."

Kurama watched her go and allowed himself to put his hand to his forehead. He'd never forgotten his wallet! Never! How could this have happened? Why on the night of a date with someone he wanted to impress? He sighed deeply. This was worse than if he'd been on a date with a girl he liked romantically. Human girls were awfully understanding if they liked you already. But Botan would remember this, and they had to work together. Why? Why?

"Don't worry, kid. She still likes you." Kurama turned to see the couple beside him glowering benignly. The man winked at him. "I saw a glimmer in her eye and a pretty smile on her face just now. You still got a chance."

Kurama bowed, mostly just to hide his glowing face. Suddenly, the room felt very warm.

Behind him, the door opened, letting in a long, cold draft. "Shuuichi!"

"Mother!" He turned to see her dressed in a wrinkled blouse, a black pair of pants, and a long brown trenchcoat. Her long hair was a mess, piled on the top of her head and held with a few pins. Even after scrambling out of bed in the middle of the night, Shiori was beautiful, but since she was in a bad mood, she looked downright scary. Kurama repressed a gulp. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

The couple was looking at him in amusement, and the cashier was just looking at him. As were many of the people at nearby tables. And his mother. She cast her eyes to the folded bill in his hand. "Is that the check?"

"Yes." He led her to the cashier. "If you'll just give me my wallet, I'll take care of it from here," he said.

"I couldn't find your wallet, Shuuichi," she said. 

"It should have been on my desk. Did you look there?"

"I looked all over your room, Shuuichi. It's so clean in there I couldn't have missed it."

"Then…." He looked at her miserably, and the loss of pride he radiated must have been powerful. Suddenly Shiori wasn't scary anymore. 

"Don't worry. I'll help you this time. Even though you woke me up." She stroked his hair and smiled through her tired eyes. He smiled back, feeling—if possible—even smaller than before.

"Thank you, Mother."

Shiori was handing the cashier some cash when Botan came back. She had her coat in her hands and smiled at Kurama when he turned around. "Is everything better now?" she asked.

"Yes, now that my mother's here," Kurama said without thinking. Somebody at a nearby tabled snickered. Kurama scowled, then sighed. "Would you like to meet her?"

"I would be honored," Botan said. "You've told me so much about her tonight."

"All good things, I hope," Shiori said, cutting into the conversation.

"Mother, this is my friend, Botan. She's Yusuke's classmate. Botan, meet my mother."

"A pleasure, Mrs. Minamino."

"Likewise."

"Please don't be too hard on your son. He's been such a gentleman that I couldn't stand to think of him getting in trouble on my account."

Kurama sighed again. He ushered them outside, grateful for the cool air against his flaming skin. His mother headed for her car while Kurama said goodbye to Botan. "I really do hope that tonight will somehow make up for my mistakes," he said. "Are we even now? Please be honest. If there's something else I can do, I'll be glad."

"I'm glad already, Kurama. I'm no longer angry, and I look forward to being your friend."

He smiled. "If only all conflicts could be resolved with a dinner date. Will you be all right getting home?"

"Of course. Good night, Kurama."

"Good night."

~~~~~

Early the next morning, a school-free day, the phone woke Shiori while Kurama was in the shower. He came into his room a few minutes later to find a note on his desk. It said the police had called to say somebody had found his wallet. The wallet was waiting for him at the station, and the address was written on the bottom of the sheet. Shiori would have lunch ready at 12:30, so he better go get it beforehand. Would his friend, Botan, want tea when she visited this afternoon?

Kurama dressed, told his mother he'd be back soon and added that he'd invite Botan in for tea when she stopped by. Then he went to the police station.

The officer who handed him his wallet didn't know who had turned it in nor the circumstances in which it had been found. Kurama stopped outside the station to flip through the pockets and sleeves. A born thief, he marveled at finding everything as he'd last seen it. Cash, identity cards, his ATM card, spare checks, and photos of his human mother and father. He had not lost a single yen, nor any other item.

But one thing was new. He found it in the sleeve containing his cash: a heavy, rough-textured piece of paper with formally stylized characters, hand-written as if the writer had been taught by ancient religious scribes how to draw letters. It said,

"Kurama, we are even now. –Botan"

He sat on the police station steps for a long time, the note crumpled in his clenched hand.

On getting home before noon, he repaid his mother for the previous night, even though she tried not to accept it. They shared a pleasant lunch that did nothing to lessen his feelings, though he didn't display them at all. By this time he'd replayed the dinner in his mind and decided that she must have taken it when going to "check her lipstick." Anything was possible for someone who could in effect become invisible at whim.

When Botan came to his house, she found him sitting on the steps and smiled. "Good afternoon, Kurama. How are you?"

"Displeased," he said, standing up. He took out the note she'd left him and calmly tore it in half. Botan gasped. Then they said a lot of things to each other and Botan left. Kurama went back inside the house.

"Shuuichi," his mother said later that evening. "I saw the book you said you were going to lend Botan still on the shelf. Did you have trouble finding it before she left?"

"Actually," he said, "I decided not to lend it to her after all."

~~~~~

To be continued in Chapter 5.

  
  
Author's Notes:

I'd like to thank the following people. Your comments have been delightful: Candace, Darling Chii, Botans-lil-sis, DeityofRoses, ViciousKitsune, Sakky, Anichan, Thundercat, KitsuneGirl. Thank you all for your continuing support!

Pipao: Thank you too. I'm not sure how I can help with the name problem, though. It doesn't seem practical to incorporate the Western names into the story. Out of curiosity, are those names from the Filipino translation of the show? I'd heard the dub there uses English names. (Somehow, though, Kurama doesn't strike me as a Dennis….) But thanks for the encouragement, and I hope it stops being confusing after a while!


	5. Chapter 5: Keiko

Please see disclaimer in Chapter 1. Comprehensive author's notes will appear at the end of the final chapter. In the meantime, comments and criticism are relished. Please enjoy your reading.

"Going Gently"  
By Port  
  
Chapter 5

To say that the demon island had little to offer its visitors would be wrong. Its wilderness thrived, offering the tournament fighters plenty of exercise between matches. The fighters could hike through the forests, provided they could defeat or escape the occasional man-eater; they could swing through the trees from vines, given enough upper body strength or spirit energy; and they could swim through the riptides along the shore, so long as they made sure not to eat thirty minutes beforehand.

For the girls, however, the demon island held little in the way of amusement. The tournament matches certainly weren't amusing, especially when Team Urameshi was down there in danger. Almost as bad, though, was the time between bouts, because of the anticipation and all that worry.

"King me!" Botan squealed.

The boredom didn't help either.

Keiko turned from the window in the hotel suite, where she had been watching the ocean toss a demon from wave to wave and finally to a great white demon shark. Poor fellow hadn't been much of a swimmer.

"Have you won again, Botan?" she asked.

Botan nodded happily, but Yukina frowned. "Botan, I still have two men on the board; it's not over yet."

Keiko walked to the coffee table where they had set up their own tournament of sorts, situated in the conversation pit of the suite's large foyer, on a short table between a plump stuffed chair and the couch. Botan knelt on the couch, practically leaning over the checker board, with all but two of Yukina's pieces held in a fold of her kimono. Opposite her, Yukina sat with her legs crossed at the ankles, her hands folded near her mouth, and her eyes focused on the board. She looked up as Keiko approached.

"Where do you think I should move?"

Resisting the urge to laugh, Keiko smiled and looked at the board. Though she appeared demure and quiet—actually, she _was_ demure and quiet—Yukina reminded her a lot of Yusuke. She never gave up.

Keiko grinned and whispered in Yukina's ear.

"Oh! Yes, I see."

"See what?" asked Botan. She craned closer to the board, and the pile of red checkers in her kimono chinked as she shifted.

"Trouble for you, I bet," said Shizuru. Somehow, the older girl had approached the conversation pit unseen. She leaned her elbows on the back of the couch, behind Botan, and exhaled a cloud of smoke. Botan stiffened.

Keiko knew trouble when she saw it. "Shizuru…."

"Shizuru," Botan said, whirling. "I thought we had agreed—" But she broke off to sneeze. "I mean—" Again, she sneezed. "Shizuru!" The next sneeze jerked her entire body, making her spill all the checkers from her lap onto the floor, where they bounced and rattled loudly before settling.

Botan looked down at them from where she sat holding her nose, wearing an expression Keiko couldn't quite call a pout. With a moan, Botan plopped facedown onto the couch.

Maybe it had been a pout, Keiko reflected.

"Um, Botan, are you all right?" Yukina asked into the sudden silence.

The three girls stared at her prone body for long moments, until Botan finally lifted her left hand above her back and made a V-for-Victory sign. Yukina and Keiko shifted their gazes to Shizuru, who soon noticed and looked back at them.

"Maybe… I should stop smoking indoors," she said, rolling her eyes. The two girls nodded, and Botan made a thumbs-up signal.

When it became clear Botan intended to remain in her position on the couch, Shizuru walked to the open window to finish her cigarette, and Yukina looked back at the checker board. She reached out and jumped two of Botan's black pieces. "Botan, please get up."

"Why?" came a muffled response.

"You need to king me."

"What!" She shot up, accidentally giving them a brief view of her underclothes, and looked hard at the board. Yukina and Keiko giggled.

"You're so competitive, Botan," Keiko teased. "You're as bad as Yusuke and Kuwabara combined."

"Now there's a scary image," Shizuru said. They all laughed again.

"It must come from working with the boys," Botan said, scooping a red piece from the floor. She kinged Yukina, then captured her other man.

"Oh," sighed Yukina. "I suppose I really am going to lose. Again." Yukina hadn't won a game yet, and they'd been competing continually for weeks.

"She does have eight more pieces than you," Shizuru said. Yukina nodded sadly, and Botan paused. She took on her professional tone of voice to say, "Actually, I think we should end this one in a draw."

Yukina blinked. "You do?"

"Yes. It wouldn't be fair to either of us if we finished. After all, you got help from Keiko, and I got bushwhacked by Shizuru."

Shizuru muttered from where she stood glaring out the window, but Botan continued.

"There's no way to know how the game would have ended without those distractions."

"I think she's right," Keiko said, taking Botan's lead. "It wouldn't be fair to either of you."

"Do you agree, Shizuru?" asked Yukina, oblivious. "Should this one count?" They were, after all, keeping a tally. Whoever won the most games by the end of the Dark Tournament won a beauty makeover from the losers.

Shizuru deeply inhaled the last of her cigarette (Keiko thought for sure she must be tasting the filter by now) and nodded. "It's fine by me. I was getting bored with the game anyway." _Quite right,_ thought Keiko. You could only play checkers for so many days.

While Botan and Yukina worked on putting away the game pieces, she watched Shizuru standing by the window. Shizuru still hadn't exhaled that last drag.

"Are you all right?" she asked her quietly.

The older girl exhaled out the window and watched the smoke curl into the clear air. "I'm just thinking, Keiko." She seemed about to say more, then glanced into the room at Botan and Yukina. Obviously she didn't want to elaborate now. "I'm thinking checkers has lost what little charm it had in the first place," she said in a voice to be heard by everyone. "We need to find something else to do."

_I wonder what has her so pensive?_ Keiko thought. _Oh, well. It can't be too serious. I've seen her smile softly when no one's looking._

"We do seem to have mastered checkers," Botan was saying. "Well, most of us." Yukina blushed. "Does anyone know where we can find a chess set?"

"Oh, chess is a wonderful idea!" Keiko said. She skipped over to the couch and sat next to Botan. "I play it during lunch at school all the time."

Shizuru nodded. "That would be much better. I believe my little brother mentioned Kurama brought a set. Do you know how to play, Yukina?"

Keiko heard Yukina say she didn't but would try hard to learn. However, Keiko was looking at Botan, who was looking at no one.

Group dynamics could be complex. Keiko knew that from student council and her friends. Within most groups, secret relationships formed: friendships, antipathies, rivalries… romance. And if Botan's behavior around Kurama was any indication, then—Keiko was convinced—but no.

_I shouldn't make wild assumptions about my friends,_ she thought. _It's not something I would do if not for this boredom._

"Then we'll have to go ask Kurama if we may borrow it," Keiko said. She scrutinized Botan, not sure what to expect. Botan remained silent amid Yukina and Shizuru's noises of agreement, then said, "Well, if we're going to start a new game, we're going to need refreshments. I'll call room service while you three go visit Kurama's room."

Despite herself, Keiko grinned. _I may be on to something_, she thought. It wasn't that she was keeping count of signs that Botan had a thing for Kurama—no, it was just the boredom! She'd long since finished the homework she'd brought along, leaving her with so little to think about besides the boys' tournament.

_I know I need to mind my own business, but I have so little of it to mind right now. And I wonder if Botan really does like Kurama?_

The evidence seemed to indicate that was so. Or at least it had. Keiko was confused by everything she had seen take place. Three incidents stood out, though she only liked to remember two of them. The first took place during a training session Keiko had sat in on in the first week of the tournament.

* * *

Out in a clearing some ways from the stadium, Kurama was showing Kuwabara some of his fighting moves, with Hiei looking on. The black-clad fire demon leaned casually against a tree trunk and made disparaging comments in a bored tone of voice regardless, it seemed to Keiko, of how well Kuwabara was learning the moves. In another part of the clearing, Yusuke was doing push-ups. While standing on his hands. Botan, clad in jeans and suspenders and a bright yellow sweatshirt, was helping him count.

"Three hundred five, three hundred six, three hundred seven…." He wasn't even panting. Just doing one push-up after another. While standing on his hands.

"Yusuke," Botan said, "You know very well you've only done _two_ hundred and seven push-ups."

"Oh, yeah? Prove it."

"How can I prove that?"

"No possible way, unless you've got a tape recorder on you." He froze in mid-push. "You don't, do you?"

"No…. Why would I?"

"You just always seem to have weird detective equipment on you, I guess. Four hundred fifty, four hundred fifty-one, four hundred fifty-two—hey, aaugh!" Botan tipped him using her oar. He fell down into a heap, then leaped to his feet. "What are you trying to—"

Guffaws from the other side of the small clearing cut him off, and now Yusuke turned his glare to Kuwabara. "You got something to say, goofball?"

Kuwabara grinned and pointed. "Yeah, you just got taken by a girl!" Behind them, Hiei smirked, and even Kurama fought back a grin.

"Yeah? That's still something you never managed to do in a whole lot longer trying, cheesehead. Laugh it up!"

"You want a piece of me?" Kuwabara started forward, fists clenched, but Kurama stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.

"There's time for that later," he said mildly. Then he cast a slat-eyed expression over toward Yusuke and Botan. "Besides, I don't think you'd want to expose your back to Botan. No telling what she might do."

The tension cut out as everybody but Hiei laughed. Well, everybody but Hiei and Botan. Her face turned bright red in a very becoming blush, and she looked for all the world like she wanted to respond to Kurama's tease. But in the end, she seemed to decide shy silence was a better response. The boys went back to their training (Yusuke skipping ahead to the seven-hundreds now), and Botan helped Yusuke run through the exercises Genkai had assigned. Yet for the rest of the afternoon, Botan threw tightlipped glances at Kurama's back. This behavior was what first gave Keiko the impression that Botan held strong feelings for the boy.

* * *

The second major incident occurred during a meal in the hotel's restaurant. It had been a welcome break from room service, and one of the few chances for many associated with Team Urameshi to touch base in between matches and practices. Keiko had been one of the last to place her napkin next to her plate at the end of dessert, although Yusuke had eaten far more than she. Seated on Yusuke's other side at the round table, Koenma received the check from the waiter, a purple-skinned demon with curved, sharp teeth and a long, lizard-like tongue who had nonetheless worked very hard for the tip Keiko hoped Koenma would remember. In fact, she could hear Botan whispering to Koenma now, "I think he deserves well more than twenty percent, sir."

Keiko, whose parents were restaurateurs, smiled across to Botan, who sat on Koenma's left.

"Yeah," muttered Kuwabara. "Not everybody woulda put up with this group. I wonder where he managed to find the lobster bibs."

"Especially since lobster isn't even on the menu," Shizuru added in a voice not meant to carry.

"You mean," Yukina asked, wide-eyed, "these bibs are not traditional human table clothing?" She fingered the red, plastic bib tucked into the collar of her kimono. "Then, why did Lord Koenma insist we all wear them?"

A moment passed, and nobody answered her question. All eyes turned to Koenma. The son of King Yama was bent over the check, muttering to himself and scribbling complex mathematical formulas onto a paper napkin. "Carry the two, four, now multiply the six…."

Botan coughed discreetly. "Better not to ask," she said. The others nodded and looked down at their bibs. Only Kurama, seated on the other side of Keiko, seemed to be handling the situation with unfeigned dignity. His own bib hung neatly from his shirt collar. An easygoing expression made it seem he saw nothing unusual about the incident. Keiko supposed that was a good attitude. After all, when a ruler of the Spirit World insisted on "lobster bibs for everyone!" you should probably go with the flow.

She got the impression Koenma didn't eat out much.

"Got it!" Koenma announced. He tossed his pen triumphantly into the air, where it disappeared in a small flash of light. "Now, where's my wallet?"

Beside her, Kurama jerked.

"Have you checked your pocket, Koenma sir?" This from George the ogre, who had a seat on Kurama's right at the big table. Koenma stood up and shook out his robes, then patted himself down. "Doesn't seem to be here," he murmured.

"I think he meant your magic pocket, sir," Botan offered. "Where you just put your pen?"

"Ah, yes, of course!" Koenma said, sitting down. He lifted his chest and chin regally, then snapped his fingers.

"Was something supposed to happen?" Yusuke asked. He was reclining with his arms propped behind his head.

"Hm, must not be in the magic pocket, or else it would have appeared," Koenma said, scratching his chin. "Ogre, you must have it."

"Me, sir?"

"Yes, yes, I gave it to you during the last match, so you could buy us those magazines."

"What?" Yusuke sat up quicker than if Keiko had scalded him. "The last match was our team! What were you doing buying magazines?"

Koenma's haughty response and Yusuke's loud answer drifted past Keiko's ears as she became aware of a secret exchange. To be sure, many secret exchanges were taking place between members of the group in the form of facial expressions and body language, starting with the shy glances Yukina sent to Kuwabara and the flustered grins he returned. Those were, Keiko had learned, rather typical. But the silent conversation between Kurama and Botan was not.

She tried to decipher the unspoken dialogue.

Kurama's steady, impassive gaze at Botan held all the intensity of a love letter written in the starry sky.

Botan's seemingly oblivious glance in his direction as she swung her head to look at Koenma became the first part of a double-take when she caught Kurama looking so intently at her. Her eyes widened, bravely asking a question, before her lips parted in shock, apparently finding their answer in Kurama's unblinking green depths. Blushing, she began to quiver, jaw clenched and mouth set in a tight line. Keiko saw a fist close around the handle of her dessert knife. (That, admittedly, still had Keiko puzzled.)

A quick look at Kurama showed him smiling with a bit of tooth, eyes dancing and narrow. Keiko would never have imagined the quiet boy would be so openly solicitous. She was surprised no one else had noticed his leer.

Across the table, Botan's slatted eyes glared back at Kurama, her white-knuckled grip on the dessert knife growing ever whiter.

"Botan!"

The knife clattered to the tabletop as Botan jumped. "Ah, yes, Koenma sir?"

"I just remembered. Didn't I give you my wallet for safekeeping during the meal?"

She blinked, thinking, then checked her pockets. "Ah, here it is." She pulled out a leather wallet and handed it to him. "It must have slipped my mind."

She handed it to Koenma, then turned in time to see Kurama roll his eyes. Keiko caught her proud sniff, and then got distracted by a new conversation that came up on her side of the table. Looking again when she could, Keiko saw Botan and Kurama speaking with different people, ignoring each other as if the passionate exchange had never taken place.

* * *

The final major incident still gave Keiko chills. And not soft, day-dreamy ones, either. It had taken place early in the evening, before ten o'clock, three weeks ago. That was a creepy part, that the halls had not been safe even so early in the night. Nonetheless, the girls had gotten into the habit of taking a brief stroll before going to bed, to stretch their legs and clear their heads, as well as to get out of the cramped confines of their suites.

Tonight, though, Shizuru had begged off, preferring her cigarettes and the sound of the surf from the window. She did that sometimes. Yukina had gone straight to bed, lulled by the sound of the waves. Keiko decided each was dealing with the fighting in her own way; she herself had succumbed to a restless energy that sent her walking through the halls at every chance or else fidgeting in her seat. Only Botan did not seem affected. While not indifferent to the struggles in the ring, the girl never appeared to lose her cheerful demeanor.

She was only too happy to walk with Keiko that night, alone.

The hotel had two dozen rooms on each floor, providing ample distance to walk. Soft, well-worn, tannish carpeting ran wall to wall, complementing a ruddy wallpaper, which Keiko had never looked closely at. Sconces set two doors apart from each other held bright light bulbs that created a soft glow for a four-foot radius and didn't help hardly at all after that. Keiko had accustomed herself to the shadows early on; it didn't occur to her to be afraid of them… not when the island held so much more to fear.

"You haven't been able to sit still these past few days," Botan said. "Are you feeling okay?" She held her oar over her right shoulder, the way she had her bat that horrible day at the school, when they'd been attacked. Keiko knew now that the attackers—her teachers and principal!—had been infected and controlled by Demon World insects, and that Yusuke and the others had fought and ended the terror. But Botan had stood by her the entire time, using her bat and her wits to keep her alive until Yusuke had saved them both.

And to think she'd been jealous of Botan the first day they met! Well, she guessed even the best friendship could begin inauspiciously.

"Just a little nervous, I suppose. I wish there were something more I could do to help the team." They had reached the other side of the building and turned into a dead end. As usual, they headed toward the door at the end, intending to loop around back. In retrospect, Keiko saw what a bad idea that was, but at the time, familiarity had bred security. Maybe, too, Botan hefting her oar so easily had made her feel protected.

"Well, just keep it up," Botan said.

"You mean worrying? How will that do any good?"

Botan grinned. "Keeps you distracted during our checker games. I'm ahead now."

As she said it, they reached the end of the hall. The door there suddenly opened, and all Keiko could remember of what happened next was a dank, slimy smell, like an iguana tank, and a shadow like a large arm. It caught Botan's elbow and yanked her into the dark room. The door slammed shut.

Keiko gasped, stunned by the rapidity of what had happened. One moment, Botan was there. The next, as though she never were.

Muffled screams from inside jarred her back to reality. Without thinking, Keiko jammed her shoulder into the door, turning the handle at the same time. Locked. She tried once more anyway, thought she heard her name. Pounding wouldn't do any good. She made herself stop.

"Oh, my god, Botan! I'm getting help!"

Where was the stairwell? The boys had rooms upstairs. She didn't remember finding the stairs, but vividly recalled taking the steps two by two.

Yelling in the halls wouldn't do any good, just attract attention from more demons. Keiko didn't want that. She wanted Yusuke. Yusuke would knock down that door and save Botan.

Instead, she spotted Kurama, his red hair. He was placing an empty silver tray on the floor outside his room. Late dinner, she thought. Would the demon eat Botan?

He stood up as she careened toward him. Yusuke had a room farther down the hall. Kurama was closer, and here. He fought well too. Fast and strong, and graceful.

"You have to help!" He tensed, as though the demon were right at Keiko's back. She didn't care if it was. "Botan—it just pulled her into a room and closed the door. She's scream—"

"Take me to the room, now." He had her by the arm. Probably would have dragged her with him, but she was running. In the stairwell, she jumped the steps by the threes and fours. Kurama took them by the flight.

Finally, they reached the dead end. Keiko pointed to the door, and he sprinted ahead, not slowing down as he reached it. The poor lighting blurred her view, but she heard a crash and a slam. Guttural yelling. She slowed down, approaching cautiously, not wanting to meet the demon on its way out.

She needn't have bothered.

Furniture tumbling over made a terrible racket, then a loud crack split across the rest of the noise. Silence. When she reached the room, all Keiko could smell was roses. That and blood. The blood carried the iguana-tank stench, but the roses were quickly overpowering it.

Keiko was not familiar with the scent of blood. She knew it, though, because that's what she saw in the moonlight: a long, curving streak across the wall, like a splash. It led to behind a broken couch, where the iguana smell intensified. Keiko would not look over there.

Gingerly, she stepped farther into the room. It looked eerily identical to her own, not counting the mess. Conversation pit all overturned. Desk only fit for kindling. Wallpaper bloody and torn in some places. Everything everywhere, and not a thing in its place. But where was Botan?

Keiko trembled as she stepped back to the wall. She reached for the light switch as she realized the place was lit only with the light of the moon from a giant window. The curtains had been pulled down and lay on the floor. Kurama was a dark figure in the center of the room, with his back to her, still and solid, touched shyly by the moonlight. The dark room was silent, until Keiko turned on the light.

A sharp intake of breath from a far corner came with the light. "Botan!"

The girl had her back pressed into the wall, the palm of her left hand flat against the wallpaper as well. She looked like she wanted to climb to the ceiling. Jagged rips had wrecked her kimono and threatened her modesty. She held her kimono closed with her right hand. Blood dripped from her hair onto her face and shoulder and the floor. Botan had big, kind eyes. Now they were wider than Keiko had ever seen anyone's, seemingly frozen open as she stared at the mess behind the couch.

Kurama's fingers twitched, sending a ripple down the length of his rose whip. He glanced at Keiko, who realized she herself had frozen in shock at the sight of the bloody tableau. He turned his gaze back to Botan, who had barely moved. "Botan," he said, as if to a cornered cat. Her eyes flicked to him. "Are you—"

Her jaw quivered. "He took my oar!"

Kurama nodded, still not making any sudden movements. "That's okay. Do you know where it is?"

She shook her head, not blinking.

He nodded. Keiko watched him calmly sift through the wrecked room, looking under the overturned furniture. He found a blue kimono sash under some couch cushions, folded it in half and hung it from his shoulder. After a few minutes, he found the oar mixed in with the broken wood of the desk. He held it up, apparently examining it for damage, then used the inside of his jacket to wipe away the blood on the tip of the paddle.

Botan appeared to be biting the inside of her lip, staring at nothing, still tense against the wall. Keiko wanted to go to her, but she sensed it would make things worse.

Instead, Kurama walked slowly toward Botan, his posture oddly formal. His rose whip had vanished, and he held the oar in front of him in both hands, like an offering. Botan shook as he approached, her eyes on the oar. As he neared, he slowed and lowered his head. Botan looked up at his face. Keiko could sense the rapid beat of the girl's heart from across the room, just from the pulse of her shaking.

Finally, Kurama was near Botan. He lifted the oar a little higher, for her to take. Her right hand flinched forward, then stopped, unable to let go of the loose fabric. Instead, she used her left hand and snatched the oar away. Kurama stepped back, and in that instant, Botan hugged the oar, rose into the air upon it and became invisible.

Keiko gasped. "Where did she go?"

"Back to the Spirit World, I think," Kurama said. "She'll return when she's ready. You'd better tell me what happened."

She did, and that night Team Urameshi moved into rooms adjacent to the girls'. "It's what we should have done in the first place," Genkai said as she keyed into her new room. "The hotel provides security, but it's obviously not enough."

"We shouldn't have been walking around anyway," Keiko said. She fingered the kimono sash Kurama had handed her. She probably wouldn't give it back to Botan. Still, the sash felt heavy and solid in her hands, a comforting reminder of a friend she'd nearly lost.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Keiko," Kuwabara said. He had his backpack slung over his shoulder, and Yusuke's in his other hand. Yusuke was still out in the dark, training. Keiko didn't look forward to having to tell him what had happened. "Just 'cause you were there didn't give that guy the right to hurt you or Botan. From now on, we'll escort you when you take a walk."

Though grateful for the new policy, Keiko doubted she and the other girls would enjoy another walk. Their suite would be all they needed from now on.

Shizuru and Yukina slept over in Keiko's room that night. Together, they discussed the attack, talking about it until Keiko finally succumbed to her own tears and was able to relieve herself of the terrible horror she'd experienced since that moment when the monster snatched Botan. The two girls comforted her. Keiko's only wish that night was for Botan to be there too, so she could benefit from their support and they could all be reassured she was okay. Though Shizuru and Yukina eventually fell into a light sleep on the big bed, Keiko lay awake until dawn, worrying about Botan.

When the sun just began to rise, someone knocked on her door. Letting the other girls sleep, Keiko climbed out of bed and went into the foyer. A look through the peephole revealed Kurama, who stood in the same clothes he'd been wearing yesterday, with his hands in his pockets. She opened the door and invited him in.

"I'm only here for a moment," he said, declining. "I thought you might want to know I've just come back from the Spirit World."

"Have you seen Botan, then? Kurama, is she all right?"

He nodded. "Yes, I saw her briefly. Koenma and George are with her. She seems much better than before. Practically back to her normal self. She said to tell you she'll be back today, and thanks for what you did."

Keiko sighed, relieved for the second time that night. The only way she could feel better now was if she actually saw Botan herself. That could wait, though. She opened her mouth to thank Kurama, but he cut her off.

"I must thank you too, Keiko. You kept a cool head and acted quickly. You probably saved Botan's life."

"No, you're the one who did that," she said, appalled. Botan wouldn't have been endangered if she hadn't insisted on a walk.

Kurama shook his head and looked seriously at her with his clear, green eyes. "She is lucky to have a friend like you. Good night, Keiko."

True to Kurama's word, Botan did return that day, just before breakfast. She materialized from the air in Keiko's room just as Keiko was tying her shoe, and she looked as if nothing had happened. Instead of her kimono, she wore jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, and her hair was brushed neatly and pulled back. Fresh-smelling and clean, she appeared completely unharmed, as luminous as ever. That had not been the case the previous night, but Keiko didn't ask. It didn't matter. Botan was all right.

They talked quietly for ten minutes in the late dawn light, opening up to each other about what had happened, each assuring herself the other would be well. Keiko begged for Botan's forgiveness, even after the other girl insisted she had done nothing to need it. Seeing, though, that Keiko did need it in her own mind, Botan finally acquiesced. She added with a wink, "Just see that it doesn't happen again!" and finally Keiko felt her guilt lift.

They were about to meet Shizuru and Yukina in the foyer of the suite when they heard an outer door swing open and bang shut. Both winced before smiling sheepishly at each other, remembering the incident. Then Yusuke's voice, angry, called out Keiko's name. Quickly, Botan hooked her arm around Keiko's and pulled her out of the bedroom, into the living area, just in time to see Yukina and Shizuru run out of their own bedrooms. When the other two saw Botan, it was over. Botan was surrounded, Yusuke left standing in the center of the room in the early sun, not sure what to make of the chattering, laughing cluster of girls.

Keiko saw him finally close his mouth and stick his hands in his pockets. She was about to call over to him when he half-smiled. She followed his gaze over to Botan, who winked at him over Yukina's shoulder. Looking back at Yusuke now, Keiko saw he had switched his gaze to her. He nudged his head in the direction of the door, and she walked with him into the hall. It was good to see him now.

All the boys attended breakfast with the girls, an unusual occurrence, and one that did not repeat itself often in the weeks that followed, as the scare from the incident wound down. Even Hiei came to breakfast that morning. Keiko sensed tension from the short fire demon (a real fire demon!—though he appeared so human) and even for some reason imagined a protective concern radiating from him to Yukina. She wondered about that, about why he would be more concerned today about Yukina than Botan, to whom he paid no attention. Maybe Kazuma was right to be jealous.

Happy now to have such shallow thoughts, Keiko glanced from Botan to Kurama. They sat at opposite sides of the table, each following the dominant conversation without joining in and without looking at each other. Both seemed to be enjoying themselves, though, so Keiko really couldn't tell if their behavior hinted at something more… or at something less.

* * *

The days passed, marked by a series of tournament bouts. Somehow, the boys managed to pull through, though often only just. As the matches intensified, the boys pulled away from offers of company, withdrawing into privacy. The girls let them go, since they needed to concentrate, and their own world in the suite also intensified. Keiko could not remember being closer to anyone in her life than she was becoming to Shizuru, Yukina and Botan.

One night, after Botan had made a trip to the Spirit World and Yukina had fallen asleep on the couch, Keiko and Shizuru sat up talking on the floor, leaning on seat cushions and covered with blankets. Shizuru had a glass of sake instead of a cigarette, and a bottle lay nearby, two-thirds full. Keiko had taken to nibbling the last chocolate bar she had left from her travel bag. Outside, a cloud moved from the moon, shooting a ray of moonlight onto the floor at Shizuru's head. Keiko sighed, smiled and leaned back.

"Keiko, honey?"

"Hmm?"

Shizuru paused, swirling the liquid in her glass. "You're probably the best person to speak to about these things."

"Me? Really?"

"Mm-hm."

"Oh. Shizuru?"

"Yeah?" Shizuru held a strand of her own hair, lacing it between three fingers.

"What things are those?"

"Boys."

"I am? What are you talking about? The only boy I know is Yusuke."

Shizuru found that funny, and Keiko blushed. "All right. You say I'm an expert." She smiled teasingly at Shizuru. "So quiz me."

A sleepy, drunken grin back, and she did. "Say you meet someone."

"Sounds promising." She giggled.

"And he saves your life."

Keiko listened closely.

"So?" Shizuru asked. "What do you think?"

"That's not really enough to go on. Maybe he did it because he's a good person."

She tsked and set down her drink on the carpet. "I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"I just… don't get that impression from him. He's… dangerous."

"All the boys are dangerous. But he's on our side."

Shizuru looked up. "Are we talking about the same guy?"

"Kurama, right? You noticed too."

"No, no. I—wait a minute, noticed what?" Now she sat up and scooched over to Keiko, dragging her blanket and nearly spilling her sake. She glanced meaningfully at Yukina sleeping on the couch and whispered, "He's not after her too, is he?"

"Yukina? No, just your brother and Hiei. But for a while I thought Botan and Kurama might… you know." Keiko could not believe what was coming out of her mouth. Good thing this was Shizuru. She could trust Shizuru, same as she could Botan and Yukina.

"Botan and Kurama? But they never talk to each other."

"I know, but—"

"I mean, really, I have never seen them speak to each other at all. She acts like he's not even there."

"Yes, but…."

"And he hardly even glances at her."

Keiko was prepared to tell her all about the two major incidents she'd recorded before the attack in the halls, the mysterious, flirty glances, but Shizuru interrupted again.

"You know, I think you may have something there. Nobody can ignore each other like that without a good reason."

Keiko hadn't thought of it that way. "Really? I just assumed that after the attack on Botan their feelings changed, and that was the end of it."

"But their feelings did change."

"Really? You could sense them?"

"Mm." She finished off her glass. "I'm not psychic for nothing, kid. But maybe I need some training or something…. I could feel their emotions coming off them in waves whenever they shared any space. Seemed pretty apparent they hated each other's guts."

Keiko had more to say on the matter of Kurama and Botan, but Shizuru's statement struck her silent. Neither girl said anything for a long time, though Shizuru did pour herself another drink. "You want some?"

"No thanks. Shizuru?"

"Yeah?"

"When we all go back home after the tournament, do you think we'll still be friends?"

A long, warm arm encircled her back. "Yeah, Keiko. I do."

* * *

Plans for the chess tournament materialized. They decided to simply add to the tally of checkers winners, and they sweetened the pot by adding a consolation prize for the loser, a framed picture of the group. In truth, all the girls would get copies of the pictures they planned to take once they got home, but the frame would make for a nice memory for Yukina, who the others figured was too far behind to catch up.

Now all they needed was the chess set. Keiko had at first thought of finding some way to get Botan to go alone to ask for it from Kurama, just in case. But after some thought, she changed her mind. Friends might gossip about each other, good-naturedly, of course, but they also looked out for each other. And Botan clearly did not want to see Kurama or ask him for anything.

"I'll stay here with you, Botan," she said. "I want to make sure you don't mess up the order again."

Botan rolled her eyes. "You're not going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Not until we figure out what that stuff was," Shizuru said, going for the door. Yukina followed, nodding. "I think it came off the demon menu," she said. "It tasted strange even to me, though."

They closed the door behind them, and Botan flipped through the menu. "Maybe I shouldn't choose random dish numbers," she murmured.

Keiko laughed, glad she hadn't sent Botan off to Kurama. She would enjoy Botan's company any chance she got.

* * *

To be continued in Chapter 6. 

Author's Notes:

I'm sorry this is so late. I meant to have this done months ago, but it's been a very eventful few months. The next chapters will be more timely. We have about five more to go. (We haven't even gotten to the "mission gone awry" part yet.)

Thank you so much to the following people for your wonderful encouragement. Your comments have been fun to read, and I really appreciate your support: Kamikaze no Tenshi, ViciousKitsune, Leiko Sagatori, Ryuu Ie Mizishi, Candace, j.p., Dark Raxiel, Anichan, Sweet sorrow, PassionateAngel, animegirl007 (times two), Luci-chan6, and Volpone. (If I missed anybody, please forgive!)

Darling Chii: Botan as a Charlene can almost work. Her hair is kinda Charlene-ish. Unfortunately, her profession really isn't. Ever read Terry Pratchett? In his Disc World universe, Death has a skeletal horse named Binky.... Thanks for your comment!

DeityofRoses: To tell you the truth, I'm not sure who to root for either. I hope you still like where it's going, and thanks for the kind words!

Eun-Jung: The "Kayko" thing I'm not getting. It looks weird. But they do it on the official site, too. Maybe there's an official transliteration of the name somewhere that lets you do that, but Keiko looks better to me. Less phonetic, maybe. Meantime, I'm really glad you liked the story up to Chapter 4. I hope it still keeps your interest!


	6. Chapter 6: Kurama and Botan

Please see disclaimer in Chapter 1. Comprehensive author's notes will appear at the end of the final chapter. In the meantime, comments and criticism are relished. Please enjoy your reading.

"Going Gently"  
By Port

Chapter 6

The house looked typical enough, except for the broken window on the second floor, above the slanted roof of the porch. Petunias and daffodils thrived in a long bed that curved around the perimeter of the house, and some kind of creepy vine climbed up the outer walls. Kurama probably knew what kind of vine it was, but Botan wasn't going to ask him for its name. She wouldn't know how.

She, Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara stood on the sidewalk, gazing intently at the suburban home. It had a small lawn overgrown with clover, weighed down in the morning dew. The house looked comfortable, neither rich nor poor. Two cars were parked in the driveway, shaded by cherry trees, and some child-sized bikes were parked behind the iron gate to the back yard. White curtains blocked all the windows, except for the shattered one on the second floor. It looked dark in there.

They all completed the cursory inspection at about the same time. The boys shared a glance, then Yusuke turned to Botan. "I don't sense any spirit energy. Are you sure this is the place?"

She nodded. "Kuwabara, what about you?"

The tall boy squinted at the upper story. "There's definitely something freaky about that room, Botan. But I can't tell what it is."

There was a pause, during which Yusuke and Kuwabara seemed to expect Botan to ask Kurama his thoughts. The moment dragged on. Finally, Kurama simply said, "I can detect residual traces of spirit energy."

"How come you can and I can't?" Yusuke asked, frowning.

"Think about the nature of the energy and the suspected source," Kurama murmured patiently. Yusuke thought about it for a second and nodded.

"Good enough for me. What next?"

"Now, we introduce ourselves," Botan said. She led the way to the door and knocked loudly. Closely behind her, the boys followed. After a moment, the door opened. Botan saw the spirit detectives tense, until the entrance revealed a middle-aged woman wearing an oversized blue dress shirt and grey slacks. Her black hair was pulled up casually in a scrunchie. The housewife looked typical enough, except for the grey circles under her eyes.

A moment passed as she looked at her visitors.

Belatedly, Botan realized the boys were all wearing their school uniforms. She hoped this lady wouldn't report them for truancy. Botan herself had traded her usual school uniform for a pair of jeans, T-shirt and leather jacket, not unlike the ensemble she had worn during the demon insect infestation earlier this year.

"Good morning," the woman said, bowing slightly at the neck. "May I help you?"

"Mrs. Takagi?" Botan asked. The woman nodded. "My name is Botan. My associates and I are here to help you with your problem."

"There… must be some mistake," Mrs. Takagi said. She developed a pinched look around her eyes and mouth. "There is no problem here."

"The one upstairs?" Botan said. Mrs. Takagi gasped. "You've been having visitors, haven't you?"

"How could you know?" Tears came into Mrs. Takagi's eyes. "We haven't told anyone."

"Well, we're special that way," Yusuke said quickly, probably in an attempt to head off those tears. "We're your own personal ghost-busting squad." He grinned as wide as he could, comically raising his eyebrows. Botan sighed. Urameshi charm at work. "You gonna invite us in or what?"

Botan slapped her forehead, but Mrs. Takagi smiled softly. "Yes, of course. Please forgive my rudeness. Do come in." They slipped off their shoes in the entrance hall, where a few child-sized pairs of sneakers already sat, and followed her into the house.

"Nice place you've got here," Kuwabara said. He stepped over a toy robot in the hall, only for his foot to land on a Lego house. "Aw, man! I broke the house! It's all in pieces!"

Yusuke turned back and shook his head. "Why didn't you look where you were going, dummy?"

"Who you calling a dummy, Urameshi? I didn't mean to break it!" He put up his fists.

"Why don't we save that for the intruders?" said Kurama, holding out his hands as he stepped between the two. "In the meantime I'm sure Mrs. Takagi would like an explanation about the job we're here to do."

Yusuke and Kuwabara slowly turned their heads to the woman at the end of the hall. She looked back at them uncertainly. Slightly shorter than Mrs. Takagi and standing at her elbow, Botan had raised her eyebrows expectantly. She tapped her foot.

Kuwabara's fists went down, and Yusuke's right hand went behind his neck, and both of them cast their eyes away from the women. "Sorry." "Yeah, sorry."

"Boys," Botan huffed to Mrs. Takagi, who nodded and continued into the living room. Botan looked pointedly from Yusuke (who rolled his eyes) to Kuwabara (who reddened) and then for no reason she could name to Kurama (who raised an eyebrow). Sighing at herself, she turned and went into the room.

"What's got her all worked up?" Yusuke whispered behind her.

"I wouldn't know," said Kurama.

"Huh?" said Kuwabara. "Hey! It was only made of Lego building blocks! No problem after all."

Botan only hoped the real house would be in better shape when this was over.

Blissfully unaware of Botan's concerns, Mrs. Takagi offered the spirit detectives and Botan something to drink. They all asked for sodas, and when they'd sat down in the living room, aluminum cans in hand, Botan cleared her throat.

"Mrs. Takagi, I'd like to introduce Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara and—er," she cut off, not sure which name Kurama preferred in this situation.

"Shuuichi Minamino," he said smoothly.

"You are… students?" Mrs. Takagi asked. She looked at their uniforms, clearly unsure what to make of the group.

"More of a part-time gig at this point," Yusuke said, not unhappily.

"Normally, we would be in school, yes," said Kurama. He glanced at Yusuke, as if thinking better of that statement, then apparently decided to let it go. "But today we heard about your problem and decided to help." Botan ground her teeth. Explaining was _her_ job!

"I don't understand. How could you have heard about what's happening when we haven't told anybody at all? Did the children mention it at school?"

"No ma'am," Botan said quickly, before Kurama could open his mouth. She held out a business card. "I'm a representative of the Ace-in-the-Hole Detective Agency, based in Nagoya."

Mrs. Takagi took the card and read it, repeating, "Oh, from Nagoya…."

Botan smiled at the boys, who gaped back. "I've been on the trail after these intruders of yours for the past month, and when that trail led here, I immediately contacted the company's finest Tokyo detectives."

"So you're detectives?" the lady asked.

"Yes, we're detectives," Kurama said without missing a beat.

"Company's finest detectives," said Yusuke, sweating only a little and bringing his hand again to the small of his back.

"Uh… yeah," said Kuwabara, looking at Botan. She smiled and nodded encouragingly. "Yeah! Yeah, that's right. We're detectives."

"Now that that's cleared up, maybe you can tell us the details about your intruders," Botan said.

Seeming grateful for the chance, Mrs. Takagi did so.

"It was a Friday evening. Two weeks ago last Friday. We were sitting down to supper, my family and I. That's Mr. Takagi and the two children. It was like a normal night." She rubbed the wrinkled skin beneath her eyes with her fingers, apparently a nervous gesture. "At first we thought the neighbors were having a loud party. Or maybe there was a radio down the street. But my husband said he swore it was coming from upstairs. The music, I mean. It was old-fashioned. A drum, a shakuhachi and a koto. I love the old music, but this was not what I'd ever heard before. It was raucous and wild. Clamorous. And there were voices singing ribald songs. Out of tune as well." She wrinkled her nose, apparently as offended with the quality of the singing as with the raunchy words of the songs. "I believe they were drunk. It soon became clear they were upstairs…. The ceiling began to shake. They were dancing. I wanted to call the police, but my husband…. He's quite a man. He put down his napkin on the table and marched upstairs. We didn't know who was there, but he wasn't going to tolerate this sort of rudeness."

She paused, out of breath, though she'd spoken quite calmly. Botan and the boys waited patiently, sipping on their sodas.

"Well, he came down a minute later. The music had stopped while he yelled at them through the door of the bedroom. I didn't hear what was said. It was all muffled. Are you boys sure you're not hungry?"

"No, ma'am," said Kurama.

"No thanks," said Yusuke.

Kuwabara blinked and said, "What have you got?"

Botan sighed. _This is what you get when your coworkers are fifteen years old._

However, Mrs. Takagi appeared delighted. She said she had fresh-baked cookies and would go prepare a tray for them all. They watched her leave for the kitchen.

"That woman's pretty scared," Yusuke said.

"It's no wonder," Botan and Kurama said at the exact same time. They looked at each other oddly, then Kurama indicated for Botan to continue.

"Yes, well, imagine what it must be like living under these conditions every single night. I'm impressed she's kept the house together."

They were silent. Botan imagined each boy was thinking of how his own parents would react in the same situation. Kurama wouldn't give his mother time to react; he'd move her from the house right off, then deal with it himself. Kuwabara's parents seemed more of an absence than a presence; Botan really didn't know what they would do. But it was certain Kuwabara would also handle it for them. And Botan had to suppress an embarrassed chuckle at the very disrespectful image she had of Yusuke's mother inviting herself into the upstairs room to join in on the party.

Her mirth passed quickly. It wasn't that funny, and Yusuke would think less of her for conjuring the image. Botan looked at him where he sat on the Takagis' couch, staring into space with a closed-off expression. Kuwabara looked less comfortable on the other end of the worn couch. He had started to lean back and raise his feet to the coffee table, but jerked back into a slumped posture on the edge of his seat, knees pressed awkwardly together. Botan gathered he wasn't used to being a guest in a home. She suddenly felt a pang for these two boys, who had been responsible for themselves longer than their parents had—and were many times more capable of protecting themselves and others than their parents ever would be.

Kurama was another matter. She glanced at him. He sat with his legs crossed on a leather chair, the smooth, maroon-colored fabric of his uniform creating elegant lines that ran across his chest and down his legs. He looked centered and composed, not quite bored. She wondered what it was like for him, to be an adult in a child's body. Perhaps it was a situation Yusuke and Kuwabara might understand, she thought.

She caught Yusuke catching Kuwabara's eye, then flicking his gaze to indicate the television, which was off. Botan looked over there too, saw the Playstation, and looked back to see the two boys grinning at each other.

She sighed. On second thought, maybe Kurama was alone in his maturity.

"I'm sorry to be so long," Mrs. Takagi said as she walked into the room. She set down a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a tray with four glasses of milk on the center coffee table. "Would you like anything more?"

They all reached politely for the milk, Kuwabara going for two cookies, and said no thank you, and Mrs. Takagi finally sat back down. "Where was I, then?"

"Your husband had come back from the confrontation upstairs," Kurama said.

"Yes, yes. I remember. He was quite put out. He couldn't repeat exactly what they had said to him in front of the children, but he did say that they would be up there for the rest of the night. The music started up again, and the dancing and singing, and it went on until daybreak. We all slept downstairs that night."

"Had he opened the door to the room?" Botan asked.

"Oh, no. It was locked, which is strange, because there is no lock on that door."

Botan nodded.

"We opened it the next morning, though, and the room was in a shambles! Everywhere, spilled sake, and the remains of a big dinner, and trash, and everything messed up. It took me several hours to clean it. I even had to rent a carpet shampooer to get the stains and sake from the floor." She ran a hand through her hair.

"But they came back."

"Yes. That night. We slept with the children in their rooms downstairs again. We could hardly sleep past the sounds of their party, and two neighbors called to complain. I'm afraid we've become unpopular on the block now…." She bowed her head. Judging from the neatness of the rest of the house, inside and out, Mrs. Takagi took such things personally. She must have felt as if she'd failed somehow.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Takagi," Botan said. "They'll forget as soon as we take care of this for you."

She smiled weakly and rubbed below her eyes again. "I'll just be glad to have them gone, Miss Botan. Thank you."

"We'll do everything we can, don't you worry. So, they've been here every night for two weeks?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll stake out the place tonight, down here. When they come into the room again, we'll deal with them. Right boys?"

"Hell yeah," Yusuke agreed. Kuwabara made noises of concurrence around the cookies he was chewing, and Kurama simply nodded.

* * *

Kurama couldn't help being amused at the way Botan had taken charge of this mission. Usually, Yusuke led the team wherever it had to go, and he did it with characteristic bravado and sass. Botan always stood right behind him, offering timely information and assistance. Though she stayed out of the limelight, she was always so chipper about it. If Kurama had let himself, he would have found her attitude charming. But then, he hadn't let himself feel much of anything for Botan since their date.

As far as he was concerned, she was just a teammate. His least favorite teammate, if he were the type to categorize people that way. Which he wasn't. After all, that would be petty, and Kurama was not petty.

So, seeing as Yusuke had taken a more relaxed role for this mission, leaving Botan to fill the leadership vacuum, Kurama decided to pick up the slack.

"Mrs. Takagi," he said politely, "I believe it would be useful to familiarize ourselves with the layout of your home." She nodded mutely. "May we start with the room in question?"

As they tromped up the stairs that led from a corner of the living room, Kurama glanced at Botan. She caught his eye and raised one eyebrow at him as he had in the entranceway. Grinning as mockingly as he could, Kurama turned away again. In moments, the four stood in front of a plain wooden door, painted white like the rest of the hall.

"I'm afraid I haven't cleaned it in a few days," Mrs. Takagi was saying, not meeting anyone's eyes. "My husband thinks if I let the mess build up, they will want to leave."

Botan reached for the door, but Kurama turned the handle first. The door swung open noiselessly.

The smell of old liquor reached them first, wafting into the hall slowly in the still air. Close on it was an undercurrent of foulness. Kurama wrinkled his nose disdainfully, and behind him, Kuwabara made a gagging sound. Next to Kurama, Botan sighed. She looked up at him, obviously expecting him to lead the way, but Kurama bowed stiffly. "Ladies first," he said.

"Yeah, right," Yusuke said, pushing between them and striding into the room. He kicked aside a few empty bottles and couldn't help but step on a thin carpet of food cartons and cellophane wrappers. Softly, he swore. "Feels just like home," he said under his breath. Kurama, Kuwabara and Botan trailed after him, and they looked around.

Judging by the pink bed frame and bright stenciling on the walls, the room had belonged to a child before the intruders came. Kurama looked closely at the stylized pictures painted on the walls in irregular patterns. Zoo animals mostly. He used his shirt sleeve to wipe away a food stain that covered the three tails of a red fox. The image emphasized the fox's large, almond-shaped eyes, and the body was almost completely encircled by the thick, tapered tails. A magical animal, strangely out of place amid the more mundane depictions of elephants, lions and tigers. It was probably the eyes, he realized. None of the other animals were drawn with such startling, wide-open eyes.

Feeling real eyes on him, he turned to the doorway and saw Mrs. Takagi gazing at him and the stencil. Her mouth was a thin line, but her eyes were sad.

"Does this room normally belong to one of your children, Mrs. Takagi?"

She nodded. "It used to. My daughter."

"Don't worry," Kurama said, hoping for no reason he could name to drive the despair from her face. "We'll clear the room so she can play and sleep in it once more."

She shook her head. "Kohana died three years ago. But I will be glad to have the room back."

In the silence that followed, Botan cleared her throat. "Let's get an idea of the rest of the layout. Maybe the backyard too? I don't think there are any clues here."

They quietly filed out of the room behind her, Kurama last of all.

* * *

Mrs. Takagi's grief stayed with Kurama well into the day. The morning was hardly over before the tour of the house and yard was finished, and the noonday sun shone with full force as the group took a walk around the neighborhood, in case their quarry escaped the house tonight. Kurama noted the landmarks and all the places he himself might use to hide or cover a trail in the dark. But it was automatic. He walked along with Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan, quietly. 

He could imagine the pain of losing a child. He really could, and he pitied the Takagi family. He had almost lost his mother some months ago, and that was bad enough. If not for the sacred mirror he and his partners had stolen from Spirit World, he would have lost his human mother, to whom he owed so much. So he understood, he told himself. What a tragedy.

Still, as the walk progressed, his thoughts could not. His memory of that filthy room, with the pink bed frame and the magical fox stencils, pulled at him. "Kohana died three years ago. But I will be glad to have the room back." Her words had created a stillness in his mind, one he uncomfortably associated with terror.

Had he planned for a life without his mother, back when she was sick? He didn't think so. He hadn't contemplated what it would be like to bury her, to perform the rituals associated with death. Would he have kept the house? And if so, would he have removed her things, cleaned out her bedroom and closets? Would he have repainted the walls, sold off her furnishings and keepsakes? He would have had to, right? How could he live surrounded by a person who was dead? A person he needed more than his own life.

Exhaling a trembling breath, he reminded himself that was not to be. He had saved Shiori, his mother, just as he had saved himself sixteen years ago, through cleverness and guile.

Still, the little girl's room nagged at him. What would he have done in the event of the unthinkable?

They turned a corner, heading back toward the Takagi house. Peripherally, he noticed the group's uncomfortable silence and Yusuke glaring at him, but he thought perhaps that was because of his faux pas back in the house. During her briefing last night had Botan mentioned to them that the Takagis had lost a child? He didn't remember, and he wasn't inclined to bring up the subject now. He lengthened his gait and stuck his hands in his pockets.

Finally they reached the house, with its broken window. In the noon light, without a shadow, the house looked stark and lonely. Kurama sighed. Yusuke came up and stopped him from opening the door. "I wanna talk to you." They walked across the lawn while Botan and Kuwabara knocked and entered the house.

Yusuke and Kurama turned the corner of the garage, just before the gated entrance to the backyard—and suddenly, Yusuke shoved Kurama against the rough outer wall.

Kurama bounced away from it and landed in a fighting stance. "What is this, Yusuke?"

Kurama would have counterattacked almost anyone else, right away, but he tended to give Yusuke a little slack. Yusuke probably had a good reason for this. And if it wasn't good enough, the clematis climbing the side of the house would teach him a good lesson about screwing with someone who could psychically control plants.

"Come on," Kurama said. "Something bothering you, Yusuke?" He narrowed his eyes at the scowling face across from him.

"That would be you," Yusuke growled. "I wanna know what's going on with you and Botan!"

"What are you talking about?"

Yusuke stepped forward with his fists raised. "I'm talking about the attitude you've been copping, and I'm talking about the way you just ignored what she was asking you just now. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Annoyed, Kurama narrowed his eyes. Unconsciously he had assumed a fisted fighting stance as well. "I don't know what you're talking about, Yusuke. I didn't hear her say anything, and I have certainly not treated her any differently than I have anyone else."

"Yeah right! She asked you which way you would go if you tried to escape the house in the dark, and you just kept right on walking. There's no way you couldn't have heard her."

Kurama relaxed a bit. "Yusuke, I was lost in thought," he said calmly. "I didn't hear her." And even if I did, he thought, no matter.

Yusuke didn't relax. "You two have been throwing funny looks at each other since we got back from the tournament." Kurama couldn't deny it, and he certainly wasn't about to add that they'd been throwing glares at each other since before the tournament. In the face of his silence, Yusuke continued in a low voice. "It's none of my business. But I want it to stop."

"Oh?" Now standing completely at ease, he cocked one eyebrow.

"Oh?" Yusuke mimicked in a disgusted voice. "Yeah, Kurama. This ain't the time or place for a lovers' spat—shut up!—whatever the hell's going on between you and Botan. We don't need the distraction."

Kurama's cool evaporated. "Since when have you cared about distractions? This team has been full of them since the start!"

"Since I became team leader—since we lost Genkai." His gaze burned into Kurama, fierce and earnest. Behind the anger and frustration, Kurama saw something. Was it fear? Kurama said the first thing that came to mind.

"We got her back."

"What if we hadn't?" Violently shaking his head, Yusuke strode away. He said over his shoulder, "We gotta watch out for each other, Kurama. I don't care if you don't like Botan, but you still treat her like your friend, you got that?"

* * *

The hours slowly passed. Now Kurama had another heavy statement to mull, this one reverberating in Yusuke's stricken tone. "What if we hadn't?" 

_What if we hadn't?_ It sounded awfully similar to the words Mrs. Takagi had spoken, making the grieving mother's statement sound like the answer to a question. It was an answer Kurama did not want to contemplate, and yet, he could do nothing but.

He reconnoitered outside after Yusuke went into the house, and worked off some of the angry energy left over from their "talk." Yusuke was right, he realized. They were a team, and he shouldn't bring his dislike for Botan into the mix. They already had enough trouble with Kuwabara and Hiei, no matter how amusing _that_ situation was. His problem with Botan was different, of course. More serious. But if she were willing to bury their conflict, then he would reciprocate. And he realized now that she might have been trying to do that all along.

Things with the ferry girl had certainly changed since their date. He could think of few times in his life when he'd so badly misjudged a person. His first encounters with Yusuke came to mind; he had considered the boy a "good guy," someone he could trust to do the right thing. Then Yusuke had tried to sacrifice his own life for Kurama and his mother—and Kurama found himself in awe of Yusuke's capacity for kindness. That Kurama had underestimated him did not seem strange. That he had done the same with Botan embarrassed the hell out of him.

Usually, Kurama embarrassed others. He stole things, and he revealed people's weaknesses, and he defeated enemies in combat. Sometimes he openly mocked those who deserved it.

"I don't care if you don't like Botan," Yusuke had said, "but you still treat her like your friend, you got that?"

"The same way she treated me?" he growled. Friends didn't deceive each other. They didn't steal from each other. They didn't make a scene in restaurants for the purpose of humiliating each other, and they didn't get Shiori involved.

Yeah, he _liked_ getting belittled in front of his mother.

He shook his head and strode down the sidewalk. It would be nice if Hiei were around. The little fire demon had a way of making him laugh, and he'd rather be amused than angry.

But he wasn't really angry, was he? Not like he had been. Although they barely talked after the date, they couldn't help but spend time together. Botan had proved herself an asset to the team in dozens of ways since then… not that that had ever been in doubt… and winning the Dark Tournament had cemented the team as a group, creating an _esprit de corps_ among them such as he'd rarely seen and certainly never experienced. The team was a whole, and Botan a part of that.

And, he had to admit how difficult it was to feel enraged at the girl he'd rescued from that hotel room.

She was like two different people. The annoyingly attractive and sweet young woman who had matched him tit for tat, glare for glare up until that night on the demon island. And then the terrified, hurt creature he'd helped escape from that gory room. He could only be angry at one of them, the one who had returned the next day apparently whole, unchanged, as if the attack had not taken place. But by that time, he had not wanted to be angry at all.

"She bowed low to me," he murmured. "She said thank you." In the Spirit World, when he visited that night to be sure she was well. Another ferry girl had led him toward the residential chambers to see her, but Botan had met him halfway, walking respectfully toward him in the wide, high-ceilinged hall, trailed by a few other spirit guides and of all people, George the ogre. It had been still except for the padded tread of everyone's feet on the white marble floor, and that lilting echo he could perceive but never actually hear whenever he set foot in the Spirit World.

Botan had stopped before him, no longer shaking or bleeding or bruised, looking clean and well. Her spirit form practically glowed, though her face was set with stress. He knew it had nothing to do with their bickering. She bent at the waist, soft hair falling past her shoulders, eyes downcast, but when she unlocked her knees and began to go to the floor before him, he shot forward and took her by the elbow.

"No," he had said. "No. One such as you must not."

Her wide eyes met his and he let go of her arm, gently, and backed up a step. She smoothed out the silk sleeve of her kimono and bowed again at the waist. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you, Kurama."

And then the next day, as if nothing had happened. No more glares from her, but no conversation either. He hadn't been sure what to expect and had at first only been happy to see no lingering traces of her ordeal, just the usual upbeat Botan. But they'd never really interacted since that night, and damn, but that bothered him.

Those two Botans. Somehow they had negated each other, leaving no opportunity to get to know her a third time. Or would it be a fourth? Their interactions were so varied, half of them washed in deceit, the rest just plain awkward, and he had no idea where to go from here. So was it any wonder he took it out on her? Frustration could do that, and justifiably so.

But Yusuke had noticed, thought it was screwing up the team. Okay. Kurama would take it under advisement.

* * *

Kurama sure was taking a lot of walks today. As she watched him toe on his sneakers from her seat in the living room, Botan wondered what exactly Yusuke had said to make him so frustrated. She would be annoyed with Yusuke for making waves like this during a mission, but something had been off about Kurama all day. Something was on his mind. Maybe it was serious, but for all Botan knew, he could simply be considering an important homework assignment. 

After all, she and Kurama didn't know each other that well, and they certainly didn't talk.

The door closed, and the boy was gone. Botan sighed and turned back to watching Yusuke and Kuwabara compete on the television screen. Mortal Kombat was an old game now, but Yusuke called it a classic, and the two had ripped into it as soon as Mrs. Takagi gave them permission. Botan had taken her own turns, but now she was bored again. They had the rest of the afternoon and early evening to kill before the intruders showed up, and Botan was beginning to wish she'd brought a book. Without someone to talk to, she was left with her own thoughts. Almost, she wished Kurama had stayed. She had a feeling talking with him would be fun. It had been on their date. Maybe she shouldn't have stolen his wallet that night. They could have become better friends since then.

_I don't see why we can't now_, she thought.

Because, really, it was so unlike her to give anyone the cold shoulder. Not that she was to Kurama. He just didn't seem inclined to be friendly, so what was she supposed to do? Talk to him anyway? Annoy him?

No, no, no. Botan wouldn't do that. Maybe before, when she had despised him. But not now, not after….

"Hey, Botan," Yusuke called. He waved a hand at her face. "What're you doing just sitting there staring away? You bored?"

Botan shook herself and swallowed a small gasp, almost surprised to find herself in the Takagi living room. She felt the blood drain from her face. _My skin feels chilly_, she thought in wonder. Her human body had been cold before, but never from the inside out. _What is this?_

"Botan? Hey, Botan!"

"Hm? What is it, Yusuke?" It took some effort, but she managed to sound normal to her ears… even if she felt her attention divided between the boys and the strange, terrifying sensations taking hold of her body.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were looking at her in concern. They couldn't know what was wrong with her, could they? How could they when she herself wasn't even sure?

"You just look a little weird," Yusuke murmured, unusually perceptive. "Need some water or something?"

"You know, that sounds like an excellent idea! No, no, don't get up. I'll go visit Mrs. Takagi in the kitchen. I'll be back in a few minutes!" With a bright smile, Botan left the room.

And none too soon. Her head felt light and dizzy, like she had too much air. She ducked into the bathroom and closed the door. What was this? Her body, was it sick? Did she have a disease? Quietly, she folded herself into a kneeling position and focused on her breath. Hard to tell if it was too fast or too slow.

After a time, she began to feel normal again. "Maybe I should go to a doctor?" she wondered as she leaned over the sink to rinse her face. "No…. That's silly. I just have to adjust to this body some more. Lord Koenma warned me when I got it that it would take getting used to." _Just didn't say it would be so scary at times_.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Takagi was slicing vegetables for another snack tray. She looked up when Botan entered and smiled. "I am feeling safer than I have in a long time," she said, that pinched look about her eyes easing a bit.

Botan inclined her head. "We'll do our best to help you keep that feeling, Mrs. Takagi."

The woman smiled again, softly this time, and held out a plate of miniature rice balls. Botan was still munching absently and speaking with Mrs. Takagi when Kurama entered the kitchen.

Botan had been lulled by the friendly conversation, led away from her troubling thoughts, and so she greeted Kurama as if she hadn't been worrying over him for some time.

"Hello Shuuichi! You're back."

Maybe he thought of a sarcastic response, because his mouth quirked into a riveting half-smile. But he only said, "Yes, I was scouting the neighborhood a bit more. How have things been here?"

"Oh, very quiet," Botan said. "Mrs. Takagi has arranged for the children to stay with her aunt tonight, so we don't have to worry about them as bystanders."

Kurama looked pleased. "Very good," he said. "That will help us focus on what we're doing."

"And what exactly will that be?" Mrs. Takagi asked. "I mean, how will you be going about it?"

"We plan to surround and arrest the intruders when they enter the room tonight," Kurama said. "Then we'll take them into our custody so they can't bother you and your family anymore."

"You make it sound so easy," the older woman said. "I hope it is so. Oh, dear. Time to pick up the children from school. I'll need to go now, but I'll be back in an hour or so. Will you all be okay here till then?"

They said they would, and Mrs. Takagi picked up her purse and a snack tray to drop off for Yusuke and Kuwabara, and she left the room. Botan realized she was alone with Kurama. She looked up at him to see his green eyes on her, looking bright and intelligent beneath the bangs of his red hair.

"A kind woman," the boy said.

"Yes," said Botan. She found her fingers fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"Botan…."

"Yes?"

"I think… somehow I have offended you. I want to apologize."

What was he talking about? Ignoring her earlier? But this was way too formal just for that. Had he offended her? Not since the times he stole her oar. Before she could think, she asked, "Is this about the oars you stole?"

He didn't stop making eye contact, but he remained standing a few feet in front of her.

"This is about everything."

Botan exhaled.

"This isn't so you will apologize to me, Botan. You owe me nothing. It's all gone, in my mind. I just want to make you understand that."

She closed her eyes and bent her head. After a minute she looked up at him and nodded. "Thank you, Kurama."

"Thank _you_, Botan."

She smiled, and he smiled back, looking almost foolishly happy. He stepped forward with his hand held out, and in that uncontrolled moment, Botan did something she could not understand.

She shrank away. It was like a flinch.

Kurama's hand came down, and he backed away as well. For the first time in the last few minutes, he looked away from her. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

And then he was gone. Botan stood in the kitchen, alone, almost lost in her wonder at this human body Koenma had given her. Its reactions to the world were all so very wrong.

* * *

Author's Notes 

I am never posting a work-in-progress ever again. It's not fair to you readers, and it's not my ideal creative process. (Probably the main reason it worked for Dickens was that he was actually paid for it.) So, don't worry, I am trying to finish this up as quickly as possible. But it will take time. And I'm sorry about that…. After this, all my stories will be posted whole.

Meanwhile, thank you to the following people. Your reviews have kept me as honest as I can be while writing this: ScarletAmaranth, achirite, Vevina Malfoy, Ryuuie Mizishi, A lilmatchgirl (for both reviews! thanks!), Jess-chan of the Nya Nya Neko, Empressofthedragons, jean, Madam Spooky, B-chan77, Botan-sama, Luci-chan6 (I also have to thank Volpone for reccing the story to you), shiromo, Eun-Jung (Your comments meant a lot to me. To be told one has written something original in the fanfic genre is something indeed. I'm glad you're enjoying it.), Tinacutegurl, PassionateAngel/Steph, Animoon, CWolf2, animegirl007, and Volpone.

Remember when you're reviewing that I can take constructive criticism. As this story moves along, you'll probably see something or other that might be improved. I'm not averse to hearing about that, as long as your terms are polite. And if I agree with you, I'll probably incorporate suggested changes in the final draft once this is all finished.

Best wishes to everyone reading, and I'll try to get the next part out quickly.


	7. Chapter 7: Death

Please see disclaimer in Chapter 1. Comprehensive author's notes will appear at the end of the final chapter. In the meantime, comments and criticism are relished. Please enjoy your reading.

**"Going Gently"  
**By Port

**  
Chapter 7**

The shadows in the kitchen grew longer. The jars and bowls left on the countertop of the center island cast pale, purplish ones that slanted away from Botan, who watched with detachment. Occasionally, the sun at the window would flare brighter, and the shadows would darken. Then a cloud would block the sun, and they would fade away. But they always came back, narrower, more obtuse than before.

From the living room came the repetitive cries of the avatars in Mortal Kombat, kicking the living hell out of each other. Outside, a sparrow twittered forlornly. Botan picked apart the last rice ball as she tried to contemplate only the slow rhythm of her breath.

It wasn't working. She had no control over this body. She couldn't even meditate in it.

Given the terrors it was prone to, the bouts of panic and the unreasonable fear that never left – given all that, she thought she should long for the peace of the Spirit World. The holy palace that had been her home for so long, though, would be no comfort to her. It couldn't erase the memory of that night, the memory that wouldn't leave her.

Past experience told her she shouldn't be reacting this way. As a spirit guide, she had collected shades who had died in indescribable horror. Rape, torture, persecution, captivity, starvation – none was a stranger to her. Neither was violence. She had seen people stabbed, hanged, lined up and shot like animals, buried alive, gassed, run down. The history of the mortal world was one of conflict, and war had kept her busy her whole life. The full range of accidental deaths were known to her as well. Car accidents such as the one that took Yusuke happened hundreds of times a day. Fires, poisonings, falls, disease…. Botan collected the dead, no matter how they died.

Her fingers separated the individual grains of rice on the platter, arranging them into a curved line.

Botan's personal horror at the realities of mortal life had always found an outlet in sympathy. She comforted the departed and found pleasure in preparing them for everlasting life.

There was no death.

She knew that. Nothing to be afraid of. (Well, maybe the punishments of the afterlife. But those were temporary. And only for extreme cases. Botan could comfort those, too. Well, mostly.)

Since that night on the demon island, though, uncomfortable thoughts had occurred to her. She had never been endangered before. Only stood patiently to the side while others met their ends, safe in her spirit form. Safe in a way she had never comprehended.

That night in the hotel room, she had no time to shift away from physicality. The demon had hurt her in a frenzy, refusing to let up despite her screams. He'd held her in his foul-smelling arms and ripped her kimono open, then thrown her against the wall when she kicked him. Kurama had arrived after about a minute or two, thanks to Keiko, but to Botan the time in that room might as well have lasted hours.

In a way, it had never ended.

And she had learned there were indeed things to be afraid of, even given the golden promise of an afterlife. Fear had become a bone-deep part of her, like an oily residue sliding inside her stomach and chest and limbs. When it overtook her, like earlier in the day, she wanted to crawl out of her skin and find someplace to hide.

Bad enough that, but now it had come between her and Kurama. Like they needed anything else between them.

It wasn't so bad in the Spirit World, in her spirit form. Without blood and nerves and adrenaline, she walked calmer, and the fright existed only as a vague dread, a consideration easily ignored. Most of the time. If Kurama had apologized to her in the Spirit World, she would have known what to do.

* * *

Kurama was watching Yusuke and Kuwabara compete on the television screen. He'd kept an eye on the hall to the kitchen, but Botan had remained there since he'd left her. Probably feeling as bad as he felt.

Half of him wanted to try again to make things right, while the other half was convinced Botan had her own problems that had nothing to do with him. Even so, he hated to leave her alone. Maybe he wouldn't have on any other day, but today Botan had him confused. Well, she always did that. But today, at least, he was ready to admit he was confused. Somehow that simplified things, and he didn't feel too bad about sitting on the Takagis' couch with a glass of milk watching his friends kill time.

The glass was halfway to his lips when Botan appeared in the living room. Kurama looked up to find her standing at the entrance of the hall, looking right at him. He smiled a little, and she nodded.

Then she sat next to him on the couch.

Yusuke and Kuwabara didn't seem to notice from where they knelt on the floor, entranced by the game and making competitive exclamations to each other. But Kurama noticed Botan sitting next to him, could almost feel the inch or two of his personal space she had invaded. He thought he could detect a humming, as of a sharp blade just unsheathed, could feel the vibration inside himself because of her proximity.

"Kurama," she said softly, too low for Yusuke or Kuwabara to notice. "I want to say I'm sorry."

Oh. He had wanted to hear her say that for some time. So why was he disappointed? "You have nothing to apologize _for_, Botan." And he meant it.

"Yes, I do. But I think we should both forget it. Shouldn't we both stop being sorry by now?"

He studied her hands, one clenched on each knee, dark pink half-moons showing under her fingernails. Before he knew it, he took her hands in his, warmed them with his palms. "I think you have something there," he said, smiling. And just like that, they were okay for the first time, Botan relaxing against the back of the couch, her fingers warming against his skin. She was smiling, and he felt more than all right.

* * *

If Kurama had apologized to Botan in the Spirit World, where she was in her right mind and at her best, she would have made things right between them. Not just right, but ideal. In the purity of the Spirit World, the act of love was as holy as the truth of love itself. In the human world, with the distraction of flesh and birth and death and a million other necessary things, it was a wonder people recognized love at all. She and Kurama certainly hadn't, and they had been paying quite a bit of attention to each other.

* * *

Soon, they heard the front door open. A moment later, Mrs. Takagi and a middle-aged man came into the living room. He had short-cropped hair and wore a rumpled business suit. In his eyes was the slight nervousness of a man with too much on his mind and not enough options. Botan took him for a bureaucrat or mid-level corporation man. He had probably been quite handsome fifteen years ago, but now he looked washed out, and he had what looked like mild acne scarring on his cheeks. 

Mr. Takagi, his wife confirmed to them, and a round of introductions followed. They all sat down on the couch and chairs. Somehow, Kurama wound up across the coffee table from Botan, in sight, but out of reach, and Botan found herself annoyed for being disappointed.

"After I dropped off the children, I decided to pick up my husband," Mrs. Takagi explained. "Usually he's home later, but we wanted to be here to…."

As she trailed off, looking uncertain, Mr. Takagi spoke up. "What is it exactly you will do to scare off these intruders?" He had a polite voice, underlined with tension he probably didn't even know he felt.

"Well, we're gonna kick their—"

Botan sighed. Yusuke had no hope. Fortunately, Kurama cut him off and said, "First, sir, we will allow them to enter the room as usual. Then, we will confront and arrest them. Once they are in our custody, they will be unable to harass you any longer."

"Yeah, what he said," Yusuke muttered, cracking his knuckles against his palm.

* * *

Pen, Pin, Pan and Peta had met as usual in a vacant lot near the humans' neighborhood. Pen had a big sack full of dinner and snacks for later; Pin had the sake and beer; Pan held his koto and Pin's shakuhachi (since an unfortunate and expensive incident with Pin's original shakuhachi a few years back, the fox with the liquor was allowed to carry only the liquor). 

Peta glared at them all. She leaned against her drum and rolled her eyes while they bickered over what she had told them.

"Look, if they brought in someone to drive us away, we'll just have a good old-fashioned fight!" Pen yelled, swinging his sack.

Pin's tail twitched like it had a mind of its own, dislodging dust clods from the wiry hairs. "What if they're stronger than us? We don't even know who they brought, yet. I don't want to go in there blind. No offense, Pan."

Pan was blind. "Look me in the eye and say that," he whispered, not half as funny as he liked to think he was. He looked like he had something to say, but quieted himself and let Pen and Pin continue. Peta felt her anger growing. Pen would get his way tonight, unless Pan spoke up.

They never asked for Peta's input, not since the last time they listened to her, some decades ago. Not since Pan went blind and lost half his voice.

She spoke up anyway. "This place is shot. The Spirit World is on to us. Time to move on, boys. I told you nobody possesses houses anymore anyw—Are you listening?"

They were not. Pen and Pin had talked over her the entire time. Pan, who she knew heard every word, affected not to hear her. A low growl began in her chest, steadily growing in volume. She banged her drum temperamentally. When they continued to ignore her, she screeched as loud as she could. "Listen to me, you idiots!"

"Oh, shut up, Peta," Pen said. "No one asked you."

_No one ever asks me_, she thought as she leapt between Pen and Pin and swiped at Pen with her claws. He jumped and got his back up, orange fur prickling over tensed muscles.

"Hey, now," Pin started, but cut off when Pan's cane arced between him and Peta's backside, landing across the latter with a loud crack. Peta howled.

When she looked up from the ground, he was standing above her, cane back in its customary place, hooked over his right arm. "You don't get a vote," he rasped.

* * *

Night had come without incident. After explaining to the Takagis the basic plan—which Kurama hardly paid attention to, knowing how the basic plan always went with this group—the team had split up. Botan and Yusuke went upstairs to wait in the hall, while Kurama and Kuwabara found cover on opposite sides of the house outside. 

An hour later, nothing had happened. Kurama remained still in his hiding spot, ears and eyes attuned to the sounds and shadows of the neighborhood. All he heard were nightbugs and the occasional whine of children in the other homes. Shadows moved when cars passed by, then resettled. Once or twice, the bush rattled where Kuwabara lay in wait, and some muttering emerged, but the boy kept quiet otherwise. He was getting better at this.

The front door opened, and Yusuke's voice broke the pleasant cover of minor sounds. "Yo, Kurama, Kuwabara! We need to talk."

Just forty-five minutes ago, some children playing in the street had been called to dinner by their mothers. Kurama thought of that now with a half grin and walked to the front porch.

"I take it you've realized we're wasting our time," Kurama said, noticing Botan had joined Yusuke on the front porch. He nodded to her, and she nodded back.

"More or less," Yusuke said. "Probably scared them away."

"This may be the first good night's sleep the Takagis have had in a while," Botan said, "but we're back to square one. That is, unless they come back tomorrow night."

"Do you think they will?" Kuwabara asked.

"Why? You got something better to do?" Yusuke punched Kuwabara lightly on the arm. "Big date?"

"What? No! I mean, not that I couldn't, but—"

"So suck it up," Yusuke said. "Take a nap tomorrow afternoon, then come back down here for another try."

"We're not going to canvas the area again?" Kurama said. "If we found them tonight, we wouldn't have to return tomorrow."

"But if we alert them to our presence, we could scare them away entirely," Botan said.

"Exactly how long have they been wanted?" Yusuke asked.

"The Spirit World issued a warrant for their arrest… two hundred sixty years ago," Botan answered. "They've been on the run and causing trouble ever since."

Yusuke paused and looked thoughtfully at the front door. "Then I guess we can wait an extra night, if it means finally catching them."

They went back inside and told the Takagis their plan and thanked them for their hospitality. Tomorrow, they would return in the early evening.

Though she could have gone straight to the Spirit World, Botan walked along with the boys to the train station. Yusuke and Kuwabara took it for natural and the walk passed quickly. Kurama supposed they looked like four friends out enjoying the fresh air on a warm night, and he thought perhaps they were. When they boarded the train, Kurama paid for Botan's ticket, since she didn't carry money.

"You know you could have just turned invisible and got on the train for free," Yusuke said, smirking.

"And let the other passengers think you're crazy for talking to thin air?" she rejoined. "Good idea for next time." Her smile might have lit up the dim car. In fact, only a few people were on their way back to the city this late, so they took the back of the car for themselves and traded theories on the case in quiet voices. Eventually, the rhythm of the train lulled them, and Yusuke yawned loudly, stretching his arms out.

"Hey, careful there," Botan said, ducking out of the path of his elbow. She left her seat next to him and crossed the aisle to sit next to Kurama. "Hmph."

At the train station in the city, they all agreed to meet at the Takagi house at 6:30. Kurama quietly confirmed plans to study with Yusuke after school the next day, something they had taken to doing after the Dark Tournament. Then the three boys split into separate directions to walk home. Botan fell into step with Kurama.

Occasionally, they bumped elbows. The walk to Kurama's house was slow and quiet.

Later, while they sat on a swinging garden seat, Botan said, "I want to take you to the Spirit World. If you want to go."

The sun was rising, and they had spent the night in the back yard at Kurama's new house, the one his mother shared with her new husband. Kurama had taken on the large but dying garden in the back as his project, so now it was fragrant and colorful. He took pleasure in showing Botan everything he had done, and she seemed sincere in her appreciation of it all. Kurama felt a little silly, like a young child trying to impress a teacher. But as the night went on, being with Botan in the garden felt familiar, the gently swaying tree boughs, and Botan's thigh warm against his own.

"I'll go there with you. But I have school in an hour."

"After the case, then. I want to show you something there."

He rubbed a strand of her hair between two fingers. "I've been there before, you know."

"Mm, hmm…." The murmur held a note of patient annoyance. Maybe he shouldn't have reminded her of his forays to the Spirit World. There was forgiving, and then there was forgetting. Even though he'd personally prefer the forgetting part. "Not for this," she said, blushing a little. They had remained mostly hands-off all night, but now she lay her hand on his thigh.

"You mean…?" Suddenly, skipping school would not be a tragedy.

"Mm, hmm." No annoyance there now. She sat up from her cozy slump a few inches from his side to whisper in his ear. "Everything's different in the Spirit World," she said. "When you don't have a body… making love is…. It's…. It's indescribable."

It was pretty damn good in the human and demon worlds too. But the way she whispered enticed him. For the first time in memory, Kurama found himself without words. But his human body, in all its teenage glory, had enough to say. Botan grinned.

"Botan?"

"Yes?"

"We should have finished the case tonight."

Her laughter floated up from the garden with the scent of the flowers. Above them, the sun was just crowning the tops of the trees.

* * *

The rest of the day passed in peace, until the evening. Kurama applied his usual strict concentration at school. Usually, he focused so hard in order to deter boredom. Now he did it to avoid thoughts of Botan and the case. In idle moments, he imagined what going to the Spirit World with her would be like. Maybe they would go to a secluded garden to lie on the grass beside each other. Or else, maybe Botan had her own chamber in the palace, with a soft bed, covered in white, silk sheets that could envelope them as they learned everything about each other. 

The idle moments at school were good. The rest, not so much.

He went to Yusuke's house after school and found the other boy rummaging around in his kitchen. Yusuke tended to skip breakfast, Kurama had learned, and depended on Keiko to share her lunch with him. He came home famished, with mostly junk food available in the cabinets. Kurama wondered why his mother didn't buy vegetables and meat instead, but he never said anything.

They passed Yusuke's mother asleep on the living room futon on their way to Yusuke's room. The whole house was mostly bare, with minimum furniture and very few mementos on display. Yusuke had explained that they lost most of their belongings in a fire while he was "technically dead." He didn't seem too sorry for the loss, and Kurama sensed Yusuke approved of his new home.

With potato chips and soda in reach, they sat on the floor in Yusuke's room, each doing his own homework. Occasionally, they interrupted each other with a question or just to shoot the breeze, and soon most of their work was done. Kurama held a notebook and quizzed Yusuke for a test tomorrow, then Yusuke did the same for Kurama. Kurama didn't really need the help, but he didn't want Yusuke to feel bad about a perceived imbalance.

When they were done, they went to the Takagis' house. All the time they were together, Yusuke had been in a good mood. He never mentioned yesterday's reprimand about Botan. Kurama thought that maybe Yusuke sensed the issue had died, so he didn't bring it up either.

"Yusuke," Kurama said as they approached the house. "It may be wise to try a different tactic today."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes. I suggest we station ourselves a distance from the house, to wait for the intruders to go inside. They would then be trapped in the room."

"And we could take them out."

"As before. I'm afraid our energy signatures may have given us away last night."

"You're probably right," Yusuke said. "Sounds like a good plan to me. Let's do it."

Kurama stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Yusuke led them pretty well, but he had a way of simplifying things. So Kurama asked leading questions and soon they had the details of the new strategy worked out.

* * *

It was a coincidence that paired Botan with Kurama that night. Kurama had suggested pairing off, and Yusuke had expressed his preference for sticking with Kuwabara, to watch his back. Later, Kurama would ruminate on how coincidences shaped and marked his long relationship with Botan, starting with their meeting in the Spirit World when he had been in the middle of a robbery, leading to his joining the team of spirit detectives she advised. Nothing planned. Just a series of random meetings, continuing in a dark hotel room that reeked of blood and fear. Anyone else might have met Keiko in the hall before she made it to him. Yusuke or Kuwabara or even Hiei might have defeated Botan's attacker in his stead, if things had been only a little different. Perhaps if that had been the case, Kurama and Botan would not have reconciled the night before, and out of dislike he would have avoided being paired with her that night. 

But the strange ways of luck did not always favor the preferable outcome.

They were attacked simultaneously: Kuwabara and Yusuke on a shadowy street corner a block from the house, Botan and Kurama in the tall tree at the edge of an empty lot, a block away in the other direction. Neither group could help the other, each pair on its own against two foxes.

Botan and Kurama had spent the first hour of darkness on different branches of the tree, observing the Takagi house in near silence. Soon, that gave way to light conversation, Kurama always keeping the house and their vicinity in sharp focus. Botan asked him about his day, and he asked her to tell him about her own. She was in the middle of telling an amusing story about Koenma when she trailed off.

"Kurama—"

The energy signatures of fox spirits.

"I sense it—ah!"

The tree shuddered and made a huge cracking sound. Then a jolt, and they rocked to an angle, Botan knocked off her branch, now clutching the trunk. Kurama slid, scraping his hands, then scrambled up towards Botan. "Hold on," he told her as the tree shook and continued to slowly fall, the terrible cracking sound still loud in his ears. He steadied Botan, made sure the tree didn't land on them, and suspected she didn't really need the help.

Then everything became a fight.

* * *

They had split the trunk of the tree, probably in one blow. Botan hugged the trunk and accepted Kurama's help as the tree made its ponderous descent to the ground. Before it had even settled, two foxes set upon them. Kurama shoved Botan away from the mess of branches and cracked, woody trunk, biting off something about finding cover. 

But Botan fell on the ground when Kurama's push set her off balance.

_Too close to the fight_, she thought. _Get away. Find cover_. She didn't have time to shift to spirit form; there was never time in a fight. She scrambled on her hands and knees away from where Kurama was grappling with two foxes, and headed deeper into the empty lot, a desolate field of overgrown grass and thorny brush.

Another crack issued behind her, this one swifter, describing an impact. She spun to see the black silhouette of Kurama doubled over, clutching his ribs. Over him crouched one of his opponents, a tall, thick fox with a blindfold tied around his eyes. He raised a heavy bamboo cane and started to swing at Kurama's shoulders—

Only to discontinue the killing arc and stagger backward, a long, woody stem protruding from his stomach and through his back.

Botan released her breath.

Kurama raised himself a little, revealing that he held the end of the stem in his hand, had made it shoot forward at the last moment to kill the fox. When the fox finally fell onto his side and stiffened in death, a sharp keening echoed through the lot.

Where was the second fox? Botan looked everywhere, but all she could hear was the last of that terrible howl.

"Pan!"

She never saw where the other fox came from. The shadows, maybe. To Botan in those last moments, the fox was a thing of shadows itself. A black impression of unkempt fur and outstretched claws, it hurled itself at Kurama, leaping upon him from above.

In a neat, well-practiced move, Kurama used the shadow's momentum against it. He dropped to one knee and threw it off himself, away into the empty space of the lot.

Where it landed in a snarling heap before Botan.

She didn't have time to move, much less scream. Suddenly, she had no time at all.

**To be continued in Chapter 8.**

* * *

**Author's Notes **

I know I promised to get this to you quickly, but you probably lucked out that it took so long. Seriously. This is the fourth draft of this chapter; the first three would have sent you screaming away. What I learned: Don't be afraid to cut huge portions of your text; it's not all gold.

People have been sending very kind reviews. They've probably gone a long way toward keeping me honest with this story. Deepest thanks to the following people: Crescentmoon-cat, Volpone, CWolf2, Lady of Roses, Emma, Kiss-me-kitsune, Snowangel, ShyLilSweety, Animegirl007, B-chan77, Myrenaluvssesshomaru, Blitzkreig, Maverick, Steven (kudos to you for reviewing the chapters as you read; that was very thoughtful. Why no wax?), Kitsune Kit, xMiahimex and Yukino Amida.

A lilmatchgirl: Thank you for the long review—I enjoyed hearing about your reactions to the story and hope this chapter clears a few things up!

Eun-Jung: Thank you for such thoughtful analysis. I'm flattered that you went to the trouble, also grateful, because I was worried there might be too much angst in that chapter. I hope you will tell me if a problem arises in this chapter or afterward!

Empressofthedragons: Glad Kurama's maturity comes through for you, and that you like the pace. Trust me, it's people like you who make me happy because you are so kind as to review!

Passionate Angel: It was really nice of you to come back and send me a review! Thank you for saying such nice things, and I'm glad you seem to be enjoying this.

Pyrinsomniac: I've had the same reaction to the K/B problems you described, so I've tried to either avoid those things or to make better use of the clichés. It means a lot that you think it's successful so far. Have you read "Destiny" by Cherry? If not, I'd recommend it as a work that combines the behind-the-scenes idea with intense K/B romance. It's actually my inspiration for this story, one I look up to quite a bit. Also, thanks for the advice; I took it, and it seems to have helped.

* * *

As ever, feel free to let me know where I messed up. Thank you all for reading. 


	8. Chapter 8: Would Have BeenWas

Please see disclaimer in Chapter 1. Comprehensive author's notes will appear at the end of the final chapter. In the meantime, comments and criticism are relished. Please enjoy your reading.

"Going Gently"  
By Port

Chapter 8

* * *

This is how it would have been. 

He would have worn a white pair of slacks and dress coat, and he would have shined his shoes before coming to the Spirit World. He would have stood in a massive, ivory hall flooded with sunlight from high windows, and his shadow would have revealed him fidgeting once. Just the once.

He would not have made a date with her beforehand, and he wouldn't be ashamed to admit he wanted her off balance, just a little. Botan had a clever, playful mind, and he would not have wanted to give her too much time to think about this.

Before too long, she would have appeared, peeking out from behind an enormous marble pillar before coming the rest of the way out. Her hair would have been arranged in a complicated, braided design, and her kimono would have been white silk with blue floral patterns embroidered on it. She would have blushed when he forgot to close his mouth.

He would have presented her with a peony, sprouted from the cuff of his sleeve a moment beforehand, and she would have laughed. Called him original and unique with that sparkly smile, and he would honestly never have known whether she meant it in truth or ironically. Probably the latter; it stood to figure other men would present Botan with peonies. Still.

"It's the thought that counts," he would have said.

"And it does," she would have replied, accepting the gift and bringing it to her nose. "Come with me. I'll show you the gardens."

He would have followed her to the scullery or even Koenma's office had she asked, because she would have held out one hand as she led the way. It would have fit in his palm with room to spare, and he would have noticed how warm it was and the funny way she wiggled her fingers.

On their way, they would have passed other ferry girls, who would have giggled to each other as they came into sight. One girl would have given Botan a blatant thumbs-up, and Botan would have blushed and walked faster.

It would have pleased him, everyone knowing.

The palace opened onto a generous courtyard that Kurama had often glimpsed but never explored. Botan would have taken him down the steps of a wooden veranda into a sea of lush clover, where footpaths made irregular ways into the garden proper. She would have chosen a circuitous route through a long plot of rosebushes, all in bloom, and then past an array of other bright flowers, walls and walls of them creating corridors of scent and color. He would have felt heady by the time they would have reached the pond at the back of the garden. It would have felt like they had walked forever, hand in hand, before pushing past the pale green strands of a weeping willow.

He would have kissed her there, and she would have let him. He would have sunken his fingers into her hair and nuzzled her neck. She would have eased him out of his jacket, and then his shirt, and then guided his hands to the blue sash of her kimono.

They would have knelt in the clover and kissed, taking their time about it. She would have lost her breath first, but he wouldn't have been far behind. They would have caressed each other's skin as they separated the inches needed to breathe for a few minutes, and then Kurama would have lowered her to the soft, shaded ground. He would have wanted to please her like no one else could, and he would have found himself challenged by his own expectations for himself, encouraged by each response from Botan, and wanting to outdo it. He wanted this…. He wanted this to be….

….But Botan would have laughed between breathless shudders and whispered something about competition and the bedroom.

And then she would have won that competition, using her entire body, her warmth, her creative, soft, flawless touch. She would have had him in an agony of ecstasy as the sun slowly sank to the horizon. He would have given this bout his best shot, but he would have been content when she won it.

Her elated weariness at the end would have made him feel like he had been the real winner anyway. Her hair would have been wild, her cheeks like soft pink dots. Her skin would have been sweaty to the touch, and still clean. Kurama would have been so far away from thoughts of winning and losing. It's like that when you're content.

"Did you notice?" she would have asked.

"I noticed many things," he would have answered, not breaking any of the points of contact between their bodies. "Shall I demonstrate?" And he would have started to do just that.

"Well, ye—Yes! Kurama…."

Maybe twenty minutes would have passed before Kurama would have murmured: "I noticed, Botan."

She would have smiled sleepily, buried her hand in his hair and closed her eyes. Kurama would have watched her breathing even out and laid one arm across her stomach. "But that wasn't the Spirit World," he would have whispered. He had experienced all three worlds, and each had affected him its own way. Not the way they did Botan, defined in herself by her bond with the Spirit World. Kurama was his own man, and would be forever if he got his way. No place could touch him. Today, only Botan would have. She would have been enough, more than enough, and Kurama would even have lived with the knowledge that she had tapped into something besides him, something more than him. It would have been all right, seeing how happy that made her.

* * *

This is how it was: 

The fox hissed through the air and landed snarling at Botan's feet. She was the first thing it saw when it landed, and Kurama was too far away to stop it from rearing up at her. Even Botan didn't have time to react.

His first thought was, "Yusuke's going to kill me."

His second thought didn't contain words, and he voiced it as a yell. By this time, he was already halfway to the spot where he had thrown the fox at Botan.

There was no thought after that.

* * *

"Couple'a clowns," Kuwabara grunted, spitting on the sidewalk. His opponent lay at his feet, unconscious in a reeking heap. You'd think these guys would possess the occasional shower stall along with upstairs bedrooms, but no. Stupid foxes, with their matted red fur and grimy mouths full of teeth. That one bite might need stitches, but Kuwabara was more concerned about infection setting into his arm. Not that he'd say as much to the guys, but man, when he got home, he was gonna douse the sucker in Shiziru's private liquor stash. 

Well, as long as Shiziru wasn't around to catch him. They probably had some peroxide somewhere, too.

Yusuke kicked the guy he had fought and got a groan in return. "Tell me about it. I didn't even get to do anything fancy this time. Botan really needs to find us a more challenging case."

Kuwabara opened his mouth to point out that this one had included video games and snacks, but a sudden keening wail came from down the street.

"Whoa," they both said at the same time, before glaring at each other.

"I guess the other foxes found Kurama," Yusuke said. "Come on. These guys aren't going anywhere."

Together, they ran toward the vacant lot where Kurama and Botan had been staked out. It was unlit, an oddity of unused space in the quiet, neat neighborhood. Kuwabara figured someone would buy it up soon and build a house on it, but for now it was all dirt and scrub brush, with a few tall trees lining the side where it lined up with the street.

One of those trees had fallen down, the trunk divided into giant splinters of soft, white wood. The rest of the tree lay in a leafy mass, sticking into the lot. He and Yusuke paid it no attention as they ran past it. They ignored the corpse of the fox that lay next to the fallen tree, a wooden shaft impaling its chest. Or was that its stomach? Hard to tell in this light, and okay, maybe Kuwabara paid it a little attention as he ran by.

With the tree down, some light from a streetlamp entered the lot, and they found Kurama standing over a shadowed figure, staring at it where it lay unmoving. Yusuke and Kuwabara came to a stop beside Kurama, but he didn't acknowledge them. "Whoa," Kuwabara whispered, then was a little surprised when Yusuke remained silent.

At their feet, a fox, smaller than the other three, sinewy and lean, had been ripped apart. There were no traces of the thorny stems Kurama liked to use as weapons, and Kurama had blood on this hands. Well. He had blood everywhere, to be sure. It was on the ground, too, in sticky puddles, all over the place.

Yusuke looked from the dead fox to Kurama, who still hadn't moved. "It's a girl," Yusuke said.

Kurama clenched the fist Kuwabara could see. He noticed a single, thick shiv clutched there, wooden and gleaming sharp. He hadn't torn apart the fox—the girl—the girl fox, whatever. Kurama had gutted her. Kuwabara shuddered. He didn't want to know what would make Kurama do that to a girl.

Yusuke's lip had curled. "What the hell, Kurama?"

Kuwabara looked down at the blood in the grass, noticed a trail of sorts. He wanted to jump on Kurama too, wished he'd gotten the first word in, because, man. This was just wrong. But now he noticed blood leading off to the topmost branches of the fallen tree, and instinct had him wandering over there. Behind him, Yusuke kept prodding at Kurama, who didn't defend himself.

Before him… Before him was something Kuwabara didn't want to see. He didn't see it yet, and he didn't know what it was, but his intuition told him it would be the worst thing he saw tonight.

His intuition was right.

"Well?" Yusuke was saying. "What the hell, Kurama? Don't make me ask Botan."

Kuwabara gagged and clamped a hand over his mouth. He turned away, nearly tripping over the branches spread out behind him

"Kuwabara?" He looked up to find Yusuke and Kurama staring at him. "What's wrong? And why am I the only one talking here?" Kuwabara glanced at what he had found, felt his eyes water, then looked back up to see Yusuke stalking toward him.

"No, wait, Urameshi! Hold on."

For a wonder, Yusuke stopped. "Why? What's over there? Another fox girl?"

Kuwabara couldn't think of anything to say. He stood there stupidly, knowing how dumb he looked and not caring, trying to think of a way to keep Yusuke from seeing this. He looked over Yusuke's shoulder at Kurama, one of the few times he had ever asked for help with anything. But Kurama avoided his eyes.

"Yusuke…." Kuwabara said. But his friend was marching over again, and there was nothing to do but step aside and let him pass. Kuwabara didn't watch, though. He didn't want to see this, didn't want to be here. He didn't want to hear the soft noise Yusuke made, an indescribable little sound, hardly fitting, but still too personal to bear overhearing. Kuwabara didn't want to be a part of this night.

But he was. And two minutes later, it wasn't passivity that made him allow Yusuke to stumble over to Kurama and hammer his face with one massive punch. Botan had been Yusuke's friend first. Kuwabara figured that gave him first crack.

* * *

It was disconcerting, the familiarity of floating above it all, coupled with the unfamiliarity of floating without her oar. Nothing in her grip, nothing to sit on, no ground beneath her feet. She still had on her jeans and T-shirt, the leather jacket she'd been glad for when the night turned cold. That was wrong, too. In her spirit form, she always wore a kimono; street clothes were for her human body, which most certainly could not fly. 

Botan opened her eyes. From above, the lot in the Takagis' neighborhood only looked a little different, a dark green, square plot with a fallen tree jutting toward its center, letting in the light from a streetlamp. The tree reminded her a little of what had happened….

…She had been sitting in one of the middle branches, Kurama perched above her. A little breeze came through, and she had closed her jacket tighter across her chest. The tree shuddered, but from a blow, not the breeze.

Botan shied away from the memory, certain it had not ended well. "What's going on?" she asked herself. Her friends could probably tell her. She recognized their foreshortened figures even in the dark, from well above, and gusted down to meet them.

Only, things were not as she'd expected with Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara.

"Come on!" Yusuke sat on top of Kurama and punctuated his yell with a punch across the face. "Say something you bastard!" His fist cracked again across Kurama's cheek. "How could you let this happen?"

"Hey, Yusuke…" Kuwabara said, standing tensely to the side. "I think that's enough. Come on, man, he's not even fighting back—"

"Shut up!" Yusuke yelled. Beneath him, Kurama groaned. It had to be involuntary; he looked totally out of it. Botan hovered to the side, her mouth open, and when Yusuke raised his fist again, she screamed.

"Yusuke, no!"

"What the--!" Kuwabara blurted. He had already reached forward, as if to pull Yusuke off Kurama, but now he jumped back and looked all around. "Botan?"

"I'm here. Yusuke, stop hurting Kurama. What's gotten into you?" She winced when Yusuke ignored her and grabbed Kurama's shoulders, shaking him. "Yusuke!"

"Botan, is it really you?" Kuwabara asked. He faced her general direction, but couldn't seem to make eye contact.

Botan blinked. "Can't you see me, Kuwabara?"

He shook his head. "No, Botan. But I can sense you. You feel like a—"

"Are you talking to her?" Yusuke demanded. He had stood up, leaving Kurama to cough and gasp for breath on the ground. "Is she here, Kuwabara?"

"Yeah, but…." He looked miserable, shoulders stooped, not knowing what to do with his hands, avoiding Yusuke's eyes.

"Can't you hear me, Yusuke? Yusuke?" She floated around to face him, sitting in the air between him and Kuwabara. She waved a hand in front of his face, but he still didn't react. "Yusuke?" she whispered.

Behind her, Kuwabara sighed. "He can't see or hear you, Botan. And your energy…. You feel like a ghost."

* * *

To be continued in Chapter 9. 

**Author's Notes: **It's been so long, but I am determined to finish this story very soon. For what it's worth, apologies for the long wait. I just couldn't seem to get this scene blocked out correctly….

Have replied to individual signed reviews, but wanted to thank everyone who was so kind as to leave their thoughts. It's really delightful to hear what you think, the good and the bad. Honestly, you guys rock: midnight1987, Aeris888, BrunaK+B, Kitsune of Darkness, kiss-me-kitsune, Steven, animegirl007, Princess of Angels, Canlo, xmiahimex, Smoxx, Empressofthedragons, CWolf2, Maverick48, KitsuneKit, Inikus, Kitsune-001, Yuki Amida, Pyrinsomniac, A lilmatchgirl, and Volpone.

Thanks again! Next chapter soon!


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